The Ringmaster
by Arianstar
Summary: Grace was discarded from her life and Selina takes her in. A new villain out for revenge makes them both targets. Secrets tear at them, but will it make them stronger or pull them apart?
1. Chapter 1: Visits & Returns

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_AN: This story is a AU. Batman will be mention but this revolves mostly around the villain of the story and issues with Selina Kyle (Catwoman) _**  
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**Chapter 1: Visits & Returns**

What on earth was she thinking doing this? Again she had let her cousin win her over with a promise that in Gotham city she could find another designing job. Granted she had enjoyed her time in college and once she found her first job was happy, but it wouldn't last since the biggest of their accounts had fallen through. 'Regal Heights Designs' had collapsed in on itself after the owner managed to get in over his head, which forced her job to disappear along with many others. She didn't want to start all over in a new place, she had rather liked working in the small town several miles away from Gotham city, and she liked the quiet and seclusion it offered. She had heard countless times about the mischief within the city and the strange 'Batman' that protected the residents and their homes within the brick loud masses, she was also very aware of the criminals within the city and the true promise of chaos. She didn't want that life, but found herself with little choice.

No job would mean no home and she would be in trouble eventually. The problem with small towns in her case was little jobs for her skills and little hope of having any other choices than to take Selina's offer to stay with her for a while. _"Sometimes my cousin is far too persuasive."_ She considered how often she had let the woman talk her into things and groaned miserably.

She hated to travel and the noise of the other passengers on the train was giving her a bit of a tension headache. She had enclosed herself in one of the travel booths, thankful no one had tried to join her or make conversation. She had enough on her mind and the last thing she needed was more stress to add to it. She assumed by the next day her feet would ache, her head would hurt far worse and she would be completely exhausted before she found a job. She had only given it one day because a city the size of Gotham was very likely full of designer jobs and being skilled in house design, and dress design was why she could qualify easily for one of those jobs.

_Attention passengers, we will be arriving at Gotham Station in twenty minutes. Please gather your items and step to your nearest exit._

She mimicked the voice sarcastically before glaring down at herself reserved to face a new life, even if she had liked her old one far better. She brushed at her black pinstripe pants and adjusted her matching blazer, before sliding her white shirt back into place around her hips. She gather her two black leather carry-on bags, and made a brisk exit into the tiny hall for her nearest way off the train.

Selina stood among the familiar station wondering why she was so anxious to hide from he cousin. She and Grace had always been like sisters, but then she considered her recent issues and new found nightlife. She cringed mentally at how Grace would react; she didn't need this stress on top of somehow managing a slow growing relationship with Bruce.

Strangely neither had spoken of the day Max Shreck had died at her hand, or the Penguin better known as Oswald Cobblepot had died in that murky sewer. Her mind drifted to those moments of revealing between her and Bruce, they each shared one another's secret and it had brought them closer. 'Catwoman' and 'Batman' were now known to one another, but they still kept their lives separate at all costs, she was after all still considered a criminal.

She smirked slightly her catty self seeming to appear in a familiar fashion, before she glanced up around her environment for the hundredth time that afternoon. The station was gray, silver and very dismal. Wooden benches stretched cross the white tiled floor and lead into the railway tunnels before her like snakes slithering to their home. There were so many people that day she was half worried she would miss Grace's appearance, but reassured herself that Grace would never miss her unruly look.

Unfortunately in her haste that morning she hadn't had a chance to attempt to tame her wild short curly blond locks, or managed to make herself the business presentable she had been so accomplished at. Her black sweater was wrinkled and gray pleated skirt looked as though it had seen better days, scratching at her legs reminding her how much she despised the wool it was made out of. Her only presentable thing at the moment was a small smile seeing the large silver train come into the tunnel and starting to slow.

Grace glanced up at the last call before sighing miserably at the gloomy outlook of searching for another job in a large city. She paused long enough to pull her waist length straight brown hair off her shoulders and closed her eyes letting out a soft snort, knowing Selina would not approve of how she had streaked it with red weeks before her last job went down the drain. She felt the red gave her character and her own sort of personal touch.

Once she stepped onto the platform and thanked a man for her luggage carrier, her search led her into the largely crowded station. She found herself almost withdrawing into herself, why did it have to have so many people and she wondered why Selina wasn't there at her side to rescue her.

She glanced up at a familiar voice and allowed her soft green eyes to roam the station. "GRACIE SABLE!" she loathed that childish nickname Selina seemed so adamant about using during her visits and frowned menacingly among the crowd. "GRACIE? WHERE ARE YOU?" finally spotting the familiar wild curly blond bob, Grace easily maneuvered herself through the onlookers feeling her face heat at the inquisitive stairs.

"_Thanks so much for the attention Selina Kyle."_ She stopped her silver cart in front of Selina giving her a firm unappreciative glare, she was not happy with her greeting or the stares around her. Slowly those familiar blue eyes met hers taking in her appearance, which made her realize she would hear more of a lecture than greeting in minutes.

Slowly Selina took in her cousins appearance, the suit was common choice in her normal fashion sense because Grace had always been a bit on the bookish side. Selina noticed she had paled considerably since her last visit, normal excited soft green eyes oddly cold, her first impression of Grace was she had left to visit family for a funeral. Her eyes then fell on the red streaks within the brown curtain around her back and shoulders; Selina felt her mouth form into a thin line and shook her head.

"Gracie what did you do to your hair?" her tone indicated no nonsense and the saddened look on her expression reminded Grace exactly why she hadn't felt like seeing her cousin right away.

Grace shrugged stifling a sarcastic comment, before following Selina carefully to the station exit. "It fit my personality at the time…I think I should dye it black now, just to annoy you." She smirked seeing Selina give her a dirty look, before she realized her cousin no longer wore the black owl like glasses and stopped outside the station. "Where are your glasses Selina?" she couldn't resist the mocking tone in her voice.

Selina realized her first mistake and mentally kicked herself. "I finally decided on contacts…" she paused watching Grace arch a brow when a black limo pulled up to the curb beside them. "…I'll explain everything shortly, give Alfred your bags Gracie." She motioned to an elderly gentleman who stepped from the limo with a kind smile.

"Grace." She warned firmly seeing Selina roll her eyes, before ducking into the black limo. "I hate Gracie so much." Irritated now she took the time to study the driver of the car and her surroundings.

Alfred seemed kind enough with silver hair and grandfatherly wrinkles to ease her tension. His blue eyes were gently hidden behind gold spectacles and he wore a suit of black more befitting of a butler, whom also chauffeured his master and guests around. _"Who is this Alfred and what has Selina not told me?"_ Grace decided it was questions reserved for their ride, before glancing around at the large buildings surrounding her. Grays, blacks, pale red brick, and tan mocked her curious stares. The streets were blanketed with snow and the crisp air bit into her as the wind picked up at that very moment.

People walked past not bothering to look at her, which she favored over the attention in the train station and went on their ways dodging traffic, other bodies and gossiping over the latest news of their infamous hero 'Batman'. Grace found herself grimace hearing about a recent past event that happened during the Christmas festivities and something about a man called 'Max Shreck', she really didn't like gossip and preferred truth to that more than anything. _"Dead men tell no tales…I would assume no one knows the real story anyway."_ She shivered being hit with another gust of wind and turned to a tug sensation on her wrist.

"Gracie…get in her before you catch cold." Selina thanked 'Alfred' before watching her cousin slide into the leather seats of the rich limo, feeling it drive off toward her home. "I have a lot to talk with you about, but first you need to know about my current…" She considered Grace's reaction and knew that she would be in for a world of explanations she didn't feel like getting into. "…man." Grace's eyes widened a slow genuine smile briefly gracing her thin pink tinted lips.

"About time Selina…I'm all ears; I could use a bit of cheering up after recent events." For once Grace felt pleased with her visit and tilted her head in a thoughtful way waiting for the story.

Selina spoke of how her job had fallen through with Max Shreck's company, for obvious reasons and some she left out for necessity. She explained how she had gotten very close to Bruce Wayne and a bit about him, his background, and who Alfred was. Grace learned that Alfred had practically raised Bruce and the tragedy of his parents, she learned of how important the man really was and a bit about Wayne Industries. Selina had been hired to work there taking care of important files, which Bruce seemed to trust solely to her and how they were still in the process of understanding themselves, along with the relationship.

While all this actually interested her familiar thirst for knowledge, Grace couldn't shake the feeling something was very different with her once mousey cousin. Selina Kyle had always been on the timid side, low self esteem, weary, and thorough, except when they were teens and then there was the wild child. It was odd that she had become this confident woman that spent her time with a very public man, another thing she come to realize was Selina would be dragging her along to social events and trying to get their once close relationship back on track. _"I should have gone elsewhere…Metropolis maybe?"_ instead of voicing her dark thoughts she noticed Selina had suddenly withdrew into herself for some reason or another.

"Nina?" it had been years since she allowed the childish nickname past her lips, but something in Selina's now dull blue gaze had her concerned.

Selina smiled at the familiar name before meeting those soft green eyes and sighing. "Just thinking of the corruption uncovered about my boss…and how he wronged all of his employees." _"Including murdering me and causing me to become what I am now."_ She kept her darker thoughts to her heart, she wasn't about to involve Grace in the chaos she and Bruce now shared in their lives. "Maybe Bruce can find you a design job…

"No Selina…please let me do this much on my own. I need my independence right now, especially after what happened at my old job and the mess I was thrown through. I am not ready to trust a business man with Bruce's publicity until I try things on my own. I relented and accepted to stay with you, that is all I can promise." Grace knew Selina's motherly nature would kick in eventually, she loved her cousin like a sister but that didn't mean she would let Selina run her life for her.

She could handle the big bad 'Gotham City' on her own. "Alright Gracie…just please don't get too discouraged. People aren't quite as kind in the city…

"They weren't much better in the small town I lived in." Grace forced a smile trying desperately not to get touchy over 'Gracie' again; it was one of Selina's habits that would never be broken. "We've stopped."

Sure enough Selina registered Alfred opening the door and offering her help out. Grace was granted the same courtesy thanking Alfred for unloading her things. Her eyes scanned over the tall gray building she assumed Selina called home, before lingering on her cousins' almost twitchy behavior. Grace again got the impression Selina was hiding something important, but knew better than to pry. Once someone started prying Selina had an unmistakable habit of completely shutting herself off.

"_This is a mistake…I love Gracie, but bringing her here to stay…what was I thinking?"_ Selina glanced over her cousin briefly before taking a deep breath and grasping some of her cases. She started to the double glass door up the slightly slippery ice covered steps, hoping the glaring slick nature wouldn't make them both meet the sidewalk painfully. Once they were inside she walked to the main desk to situate her cousins' stay, which left Grace to observe the building with an inquisitive look.

Grace's face formed into a fine line, she observed the gloomy tan walls, stained bronze carpet and wondered why Selina was living here if she had such a wonderful boyfriend. The walls cast dreary water stained shadows across the dimly lit main room, the scarred and half lopsided main desk almost mocking the dilapidated area. _"Great…I've come to live in every designers nightmare."_ Instead of complaining she knew she was very lucky to even have a place to go, once she got a job she wouldn't need to dislike her living arrangements or feel like she was slowly suffocating in her cousins' world.

Grace returned her attention to Selina watching her motion her up a set of stairs, with a black iron like banister. She reluctantly followed dreading what she would find in her cousins apartment and the condition it would be in. The tan walls seem to follow her with silent eyes, teasing and scornfully reminding her of her predicament. Instead of focusing on how wrong things were, she focused on plans to get up as early as humanly possible and find a job the next day. She wasn't willing to go mad while staying in a city; she wasn't willing to surrender without a good long hard fight. She had done it before and would do it again.

Selina easily opened the door to her apartment. "Honey I'm home." She smiled at the curious expression Grace offered her, before a black cat made an appearance scrubbing at her feet. "Midnight." Instead of furthering the explanation she showed Grace where to place her cases and went quickly to attend to her black fur ball.

The apartment was in much better condition than the building itself, this quickly caught Grace off guard. It was her cousins' apartment in every way, the neon sign off to the wall, old antique couch and pale pink colored walls. The light wood floor was worn with a path that led often between the bedroom and kitchenette, her lips formed into a soft smile. It felt like home in a way, even if it wasn't hers and she easily slipped into the small bedroom shaking her head at the disaster she found.

Clothes strewn about casually over the large double bed, clearly unmade for at least two days. Selina's sewing supplies littered one corner, which didn't surprise her in the least. _"She still likes to toy with her own design ideas."_ She could never understand why Selina had settled for secretarial positions when she had a love for design deep down. The room was a soft barely noticeable lavender, dresser made of dark wood hidden under layers of makeup, jewelry, scarves, hats, and more items she was used to seeing. She was definitely in Selina's world now and would have to face facts.

"I really need a job." She stifled her sigh of defeat before piling her things neatly beside the closet and leaning against the door. "Selina…how many cats do you have?" she glanced around the apartment and noticed at least fifteen various colored cats lingering around, more coming in and some going out.

Selina grimaced seeing the familiar felines were still invading her home, she knew why they came and went as they pleased. She had no intention of explaining that to her cousin and wondered briefly how much Grace would believe with the idea forming in the recess of her mind.

Grace stepped to the small kitchen arms crossed and eyes scanning the few still coming in and out the kitchen window. "They like me for some reason or another. The only one that I own is Midnight. I let them come and go as they please, it keeps down the mice population." She shrugged glancing around the small kitchen, brushing aside old dishes and wondering what she should make for dinner. "Gracie…can you get the phone?"

Grace sighed giving Selina a look of contempt before doing what she was asked. "Hello? Selina Kyle's residence…" he stopped hearing a soft male voice on the other end and felt her brow furrow. "…Selina…it's Bruce Wayne." She heard a clatter from the kitchen and watched her cousin scramble over taking the receiver.

Deciding to give Selina her privacy Grace started to pick up her cousins bedroom out of habit. She discarded the clothing from the bed and proceeded to sort the black and white linens, carefully tucking in the bottom corners and brushing out wrinkles. She advanced on to sort out the clothing strewn about gathering what was clean in neat piles within the chaos of the tiny closet and putting the dirties in a large wicker hamper off by the window. Her eyes landed on the bright lights of Gotham City, slowly growing brighter as the sky grew darker. That world out there was big and made a brief panic well within her; she started to doubt why she had come and if she would ever fit into such a large city. She was a small town girl at heart and the city out there seemed so ominous.

She pushed aside those fears her pride getting the better of her situation again. She wasn't going to let that stop her, she had determination, skill and wasn't about to surrender just yet. No matter how foreboding the city seemed, she still had her independence and would survive.

Selina stepped into the room shaking her head at how it was starting to look neat and presentable. "Gracie?" slowly Grace jerked her attention away from the portentous city outside and met those half lidded amused blue eyes trailing across the room. "Bruce would like us to join him for dinner…apparently Alfred gave you great reviews." She smiled seeing Grace wrinkle her face in puzzlement.

"How? I didn't even speak to him…except for thank you." Grace found her cousin peculiar in a pleasant way, but was worried she wouldn't exactly be thrilled with her rich boyfriend and Mr. Wayne's strange butler didn't even know her well enough to assume she was pleasant.

"Alfred is good at reading people…very pleasant man actually. Would you like to go?" those pleading eyes made Grace internally cringe, but she knew what she would eventually say because for some reason she always let Selina win, but only in some situations.

"Do I get a choice?" Grace surrendered to the playful glare aimed her way and wondered what kind of life her cousin would be dragging her into this time.

The deadly circus still lingered in the caverns of the only home they had known since Penguin had saved them from the freak show they defined themselves with. A circus they were no longer, things had turned considerably dreary for the entire troop and now they had no one to lead them. It would seem they lost their independence with their now deceased friend, but in reality none of them could agree on who would run their criminal operation or how they would repair some of the caverns that collapsed during the explosion at Gotham Zoo. They still had a comfortable cavern within the shadows of their former home; it was also considerably warmer thanks to the absence of the penguins that used to freely roam with them.

"We should be out creating chaos in memory and vengeance of him." Hissed the poodle woman keeping her pet close to her breast glaring around at her circus comrades.

Her curled highly piled blonde hair was limp in various areas around her face, dark makeup smeared with angry tears. Her pink Victorian styled gown was withered, tattered and had grime like many of their clothing, but she was still beautiful in an ethereal sort of way to her friends.

The organ grinder glanced around the silent room, carefully maneuvering himself between his familiar family. "She's right." His soft dark voice silenced the arguing among themselves for a minute. "We should avenge Penguin…he was part of our family. He would still be alive if it wasn't for the Batman and that…" he stopped hearing something rustling within the shadows.

His dark eyes steadied toward the sound deep within the tunnels, his hand clutching his coat in concern. The poodle woman glanced up seeing his unruly hair seemed to stand on end at the new sound, his face paling far more than the natural pallor. Everyone stiffened at the new sound, someone was within their sanctuary and it seemed ominously threatening. She froze when her poodle took off to the shadows feeling the organ grinders hand on her shoulder preventing her concerned retrieval of the scruffy animal.

The members of the deadly circus grew silent and a startled gasp among the troop was audibly noticed by the lone tall figure within the shadows. They had seen his fate upon their return to their ruined home; the strong man had finished the wall off allowing it to collapse in on his grave to bury the painful memories of their lost member.

He stood into the pale light offered by the many grates of Gotham city smirking darkly. "It was not his doing…Penguin brought his fate upon himself." Slowly his leather clad hand lifted open palm in a gesture that was followed by a half bow. "The Batman is responsible and that mangy Catwoman who betrayed you all…killed my brother Michael without a bit of concern for his family. My family…yet they don't know of me." Green-blue eyes scanned the dark recesses of the shadowy caverns, this would be home as much as he loathed it, but he would ascend and place his plan into action soon enough.

"Y-You-You're d-dead." The poodle woman was startled jumping when her pet come running into her arms, she promptly cradled the matted dog to her chest.

"Michael Shreck is dead…I'm finally existing." The organ grinder studied the once thought ghost before them closely.

He was the same in every aspect except the madness lingering within the Green-blue gaze stated the truth of evil that lay within his soul. This man was heartless, cold and vengeance would be the end of their suffering. He was going to win control whether by their choice or force. He wore a suite of black, barely noticeable dark gray pinstripes laced the fine material and a black cloak lingered about his shoulders sweeping his shins like a forgotten memory. He was evil, much more so than the man that they knew as Max Shreck, this man was full of darkness.

"Who are you?" managed the fearful poodle woman seeing the organ grinder snap from his observations mouth opening as if to protest her question.

He leered into the large group of deadly performers, before producing a top hat from behind him and brushing back his gray hair placing the hat into place. "The Ringmaster…but most of you know me as Max Shreck. Michael was my twin, and it was a plan of mine long ago to place him in the public eye. Apparently the plan I had didn't end well." He sounded sarcastically bitter forcing many of the members to wince. "Any arguments?"

The room was silent, deadly silent no one dared to stand up against him. This Max Shreck reflected fear, hatred, and the promise of a new beginning for all of them.


	2. Chapter 2: Toying with the Cat and Bat

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_AN: This story is a AU. Batman will be mention but this revolves mostly around the villain of the story and issues with Selina Kyle (Catwoman)_

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**Chapter 2: Toying with the Cat and Bat**

Grace hadn't said a word to Selina since Alfred had picked them up. Her focus was on more important things like her job, new life, and meeting Mr. Wayne. She hadn't seen Selina so childish since they were kids; it was refreshing and meant she was happy. Unfortunately she had seen a new darkness in her cousins' eyes, one she hid fairly well since her arrival. This saddened her somewhat that Salina wouldn't confide within her, it was always important that they remained close even if distance had estranged the relationship somewhat.

She focused on the large looming gates outside the tinted windows, studying the intimidating mansion before her. The dark contrast to the surrounding snow was strangely alluring despite the gloom reflected from the grounds. Her eyes turned to the lightened house a small curious sort of smirk on her face, maybe this Bruce Wayne wasn't the pompous self dignified person rumors had described him as, Selina seemed very pleased with him and she knew her cousin wouldn't find that sort of individual appealing.

Selina noticed Grace appeared strangely amused and quirked her brow inquiringly. "What has you so entertained Gracie?" she took notice to the thin frown on Grace's face and wished she could somehow stop her habit of the disliked nickname.

"I'm not sure…I've been in Gotham a few hours and already rumors of Bruce Wayne have reached my ears. I do know that you wouldn't care for him though if they were true. I can't see my cousin infatuated with a rich playboy." Selina scowled a small smile twinkling in her blue depths. "I do like Alfred and if he raised Mr. Wayne…I'm sure he's tolerable." She smirked brushing at her arm where Selina had kindly smacked her in a pretend offended way.

"Bruce…I don't think he would appreciate Mr. Wayne by my family." Selina felt a slight tightening in her chest, she wasn't entirely sure if that was true and hoped she hadn't inserted her foot into her mouth. "Thank you Alfred." She stepped from the limo watching Grace's attention rise to the high levels of the mansion.

A side very few new of Grace was she loved older buildings, historical ideals, and appeared intrigued with the layout before her. Selina was pleased with her reaction to the area and allowed her gaze to travel to the door; Bruce waved hesitantly her cousin taking in the layout of the manor.

Feeling herself being watched Grace allowed her eyes to the lit entryway of the manor and noticed a gentlemen she gathered was Bruce Wayne himself, her cousins' soft wave sort of gave the idea away. He was tall short dark hair and intent brown eyes, he wore a simple pair of dark slacks and deep blue sweater, he was far from what she expected to find. He wasn't like the description of the Bruce from the rumors; he seemed somewhat reserved and appeared to have a lingering sadness much like she had noticed within her cousin.

"_Strange."_ The thought quickly passed when she felt a tug on her wrist and again seen that childish spark within Selina's gaze. Whatever doubts Grace had, they faded within the darkness of the night. Bruce Wayne was good for Selina and she found her cousins' spark too much and smiled warmly upon walking up to the door.

"Bruce…this is my cousin Gracie Sable." Grace sighed deeply glancing heavenward after the greeting to the gentleman before her. "I mean Grace." She knew the reason for the deep sigh and offered an apologetic look.

Bruce carefully glanced over Grace with a familiar distrust that Selina knew well. Grace was no stranger to being sized up, but this was almost like she was being scanned over for any criminal activity. It made her very conscious of how Selina had braided her hair behind her and insisted on the black pants and shoulder cut lavender shirt that met just below her hips. Did she always have to let Selina have her way, unfortunately the answer was 'yes' most of the time actually.

"Nice to meet you Grace." She glanced up at the kind greeting thanking the heavens he didn't call her Gracie and offered a true smile. "Yes Alfred." He stepped aside letting both woman into the entry way of the large manor.

"Nice to meet you also…Bruce." Grace hoped she was being polite; it was Selina's insistence that made her forget common courtesy in his presence. "Good evening again Alfred." She found herself liking the elder gentleman and was greeted with a soft smile.

A bit reluctant to intrude on her cousins' secretive romance with Bruce, Grace found her eyes wandering the entry way. It was obviously large with gold laced tiles around her feet, a spectacular gold chandelier in the middle of the room that seemed strangely haunted from lack of use, and a stairway leading up to the rooms above and beyond. Doors surrounded the area below, with three halls at varying degrees off her sides. She wondered how someone could stand to live in such a large place alone and why it seemed to almost echo with regret and deep crevices of unknown knowledge within the shadows.

She paused within the kitchen seeing a counter with dinner settled about on small trays and noticed a comfortable set up off into a living room of sorts. Bruce Wayne was definitely not your average rich host; she found herself again warming to her cousins' choice and ignored the weary thoughts still picking at her subconscious. They were seated with plates of various foods within the living room in front of a large fire, Alfred settling with them like a part of the family. Soon Selina was discussing events of Grace's and her childhood which Grace had come to understand as a safety thing between her and her cousin. She hated to talk about her life in general and childhood memories were always safe and usually fun.

The plan went off without a hitch, but he knew the interference of Batman was a very strong reality. There had to be a way to keep him busy at one end of town, while some of the circus went to gather his needed finances. This plan was going to take manipulation, skill, and perseverance. Mistakes were not allowed this time; he had to learn more about the woman that had somehow lived from his brothers' attack. Selina Kyle was a mystery and he knew her secret, but was he sure of the other secret he had witnessed before attention was turned to his brothers' death. It was yet a blur in his mind, the words between Cat and Bat; unfortunately he had no time to prevent his brothers' fate or their plan. He was not only forever barred from his family, but forever barred from a normal life.

Max Shreck was now the 'Ringmaster' mad and deadly. He had all the necessary plans to make himself a legitimate business man within the world above, had managed to gain trust over his brothers company, all that was left was his finances and a knew name. A back story was also necessary to his character.

"Ringmaster?" Max halted in his affairs glancing up at the cautious voice, before allowing his gaze to lower and seeing one of the midgets of the circus heavily covered in clown makeup gazing up at him. "The poodle woman and organ grinder are awaiting your orders, the others are ready for the distraction in the south district of Gotham as you requested." A twisted smirk appeared on Max's face, this would work out well.

During the discussion of embarrassing moments between Selina and a still red Grace Alfred stepped into the room murmuring something important to Bruce. Selina's smile faded instantly appearing to glance out one of the windows and slowly her eyes fell on Grace. Grace looked exhausted, a bit tipsy from the wine and seemed lost in a daze of her own worries.

Bruce excused himself for 'business' which Selina knew meant she may be needed within the night as well. She was still independent like all felines, but she had her own concerns within Gotham's criminal activity and knew it necessary for her to do her own judgment of the situation brewing.

"Alfred could we please go home, Grace has many places to go tomorrow and wants an early start." Grace felt fuzzy but the idea of what was coming tomorrow made her regain some of her senses.

"Of coarse Ms. Kyle." Alfred was gone moments later presumably to get the car and take them home.

Grace gathered her long black coat and swung it around herself before following her strangely tense cousin to the door. "Selina…thank you for being so concerned with my needs. I hope that I wasn't the reason you ended your date?" she felt guilty for putting more stress on her cousin, clearly something had been going on with her and she felt like a burden at the moment.

Selina knew that tone wished to take the guilt from Grace's voice. "It's not you Gracie…I have to prepare for work tomorrow and may go in for a late shift tonight. I hope you won't be too angry?" Grace shook her head with an amused sort of scowl.

"Never…I'm going to have a hangover tomorrow anyway." She knew this for a fact; she rarely had anything to drink and had taken too much wine into her system. "I just hope I don't fall down the stairs on our way up them." She grimaced at the imagery that followed before following Selina to a familiar waiting car.

Green eyes scanned the area seeing everything going on schedule. Batman had yet to show up which meant he was needed at the south end. Being the Ringmaster was very beneficial to his ideas of once again running the city; even more appealing was how well they worked for him obviously needing a strong leader. He was still fine tuning plans when the poodle woman's dog easily slid through the opening they had created in the bank.

"Gotham will get a bang out of this." His dark eyes sparked with amusement, maybe the shattering of the silence was a bit much of an announcement, but he had more planning to do and this was taking far too much time in his opinion.

He also had managed to obtain a grave for his brother, which had been the fake one put together long ago. Now his brother resided in that darkened ground and was at peace thanks to his insistence and the strong man's skills. Michael Shreck was now put to rest with proper name still intact, all he stood for still lived on within the madness crashing within Max's still unstable mind. It had been a task in itself to rescue the body from the coroner, what he had witnessed when his brother had been placed within his final resting place had again sparked a new hatred for his enemies. His hatred may cost him more than his sanity after this knowledge.

_**BANG!**_

He was sure the entire city heard that nice delightful sound, music to his ears; slowly he began to waltz within his own madness. The organ grinder and poodle woman had done their jobs well and the others were clearing out his much needed finances. Soon an echoing bang at the south end indicated the distraction he needed and that was where the Batman would find his progress hindered that night.

Reluctantly Selina helped Grace into the apartment and insisted on her showering before bed. It wasn't the first time she had helped her cousin during a drunken night, but now she had a nightlife and concerns flocking out in the darkness cape crusading for Gotham. A wretched city that she had come to despise and love all the same, but felt Bruce needn't trouble himself for them most of the time, often this was her cat side kicking in and feline energy lashing out.

Grace tiredly staggered from the bathroom wearing a pair of deep blue silky pajamas and all but fell into Selina's waiting grasp. "Gracie you're sleeping on the bed from now on and no arguing. I have it all ready to go…sleep now." Instead of protesting like she would normally Grace found her mind a whirl with foggy thoughts, memories, and knowledge of her impending job hunt.

Grudgingly she allowed herself to fall into the black abyss of black and white cotton linens, feeling Salina easily cover her and leave her to her restless alcohol induced dreams. Morning would come banging away insistent that she start her new life in Gotham tomorrow.

Selina shut the bedroom door after gathering her hidden suit and easily dressed into her second skin becoming the Catwoman once again. Two earth shattering bangs at opposite ends of the city forced her to halt; she tensed knowing no one could sleep through such a sound. Luckily for her Grace was a heavy sleeper and the wine did the trick she never thought it would be able to do, she hadn't heard a peep and breathed in relief.

Driving along in the batmobile fire blazing from the black demon Bruce, better known as the Batman of Gotham hit the breaks feeling the blasts more so than hearing them, he was summoned to the south end of Gotham but the first one had come from the North, he was at a stand still and knew that something had changed. Either he was not quite the man he used to be, or someone knew deliberately what they were doing and had him between a rock and hard place.

He figured the south end would be his best bet to cover first, the north would have to wait. He also knew he would have a cat shadowing him eventually, he just hoped she didn't get hurt if they considered opposite ends of town.

She hesitated on the roof of her apartment building. "North or South?" her cat like reflexes were now in full swing and she was again the other person hidden within the layers of her former Selina Kyle skin. Catwoman was now needed. "Batman will most likely cover the second incident because he's closer to that area…" she hesitated getting the strangest feeling she wouldn't like this mess they were in. "…South it is, goodnight Gracie Sable." With a tender smile briefly crossing her lips, she allowed the Catwoman to fully extend her claws so to speak and was rushing to the opposite end of the town.

"You're crazy…Batman will surly come to the first explosion." The organ grinder was finding this dark madness a little unsettling, was it a mistake to fall into the command of this evil man now claiming the guise of Ringmaster?

Max smirked darkly before seeing the others easily leaving the bank and gathering to return to their sewer sanctuary. "Sanity is only defined by insanity…I fall either way depending on my mood…" his Green gaze met those dark haunted depths with a coldness that made the organ grinder inwardly cringe, he now wore a mask of black to further hide his true identity. "…don't question me." With a nervous nod the organ grinder joined the others in their retreat.

He hated to be challenged the fools were useful but their usefulness would wear thin if he was questioned too often. He heard a strange skittering on the nearby roofs and allowed himself to turn leaning deep within the cover of shadows across from the bank. He remained atop the abandon building observing the new body in the area. He hissed lips forming into a deep scowl, there before him was the murdering bitch that took away his carefully laid plans. _"Catwoman."_ He knew of her true identity, but the cat with nine lives had been forever engraved in the shadows of his mind, this was one cat that curiosity would kill her.

Max wondered if kitty felt like playing and easily slid from the shadows turning his newly acquired staff in hand, the silver handle glinting against the contrast of fire from the bank. Soon the place would be crawling with law enforcement, fire, and medical but he couldn't resist just a few moments to toy with kitty before returning to plan.

Selina caught the glint of silver from her distance atop one of the buildings near the bank. Instead of finding the ones responsible for the crime she had the feeling she had found the mastermind of the crime. Allowing the predator within her to freely act out she was scaling the building in several swift movements, before halting in a half crouch cat movements dominating her senses again.

"Who are you?" she hissed blue eyes hardening when he stepped from the shadows.

Those Green eyes brought memories to the surface that weren't possible, but within their depths was evil she had witnessed, this evil though much darker. He was dressed in what she would define as a circus outfit in most cases; she remembered Penguins dark deadly friends and wondered if this was their new commander. _"Another madman loose in Gotham."_ A smirk lit her face up a soft purr briefly slipping into the silence.

He slid his finger lightly to a hidden button on his cane, she wasn't even aware of the hatred poisoning his veins for her. "The Ringmaster at your service." He noticed her head cock surprise lingering there as she placed the obvious together. "I have the cat but it appears the Bat has yet to make his appearance?" she didn't like the taunt in his voice; this man knew more than he was letting on.

Her confidence seemed to fade slightly her thoughts now racing. Who was this man really? What knowledge did he have against her and Bruce? Did he know their dark secret? The questions seemed to keep whirling about her thoughts, her eyes becoming clouded and feline familiarity fading behind the mask of Selina Kyle.

_Slash_

Catwoman let out a hiss of surprise flipping back observing the dark liquid falling down her shoulder, the cut was deep and the glinting blade within the Ringmasters hand was tainted with her essence. The mask hid his identity, but she couldn't help but think he knew her and not just her Catwoman guise she hid so well within.

A screeching sound familiar to her caught her attention, which The Ringmaster used to his advantage easily disappearing. Batman had arrived on the scene.

His eyes bore into the blade in his hand tainted with the murderesses blood like threads of her life slowly draining before his eyes. Batman had come far sooner than he anticipated and his revenge was lost, he had toyed with her and had no intention of killing her so easily. He wanted to humiliate her, reveal her for who she was to the world and then he would take his justice. The world would know Selina Kyle was the criminal Catwoman, they would know Batman was part of her life and would know his secret one day soon; he just had to sort through the layers of fog that seemed to hide that tiny aspect from him.

He succumbed completely into his insanity during those moments his brother was killed, it was now like a memory he couldn't grasp forever sliding through the darkness embracing him forever. He realized he was within the tunnels under Gotham Zoo and the circus troop was all fixated on him awaiting further orders. His plan held up beautifully and now he had gained their undivided attention. He could provide for them and they would provide for him, or else he had other uses for them that would make amusing dart boards.

Grace heard the sounds of Selina cursing amongst the fog of her hangover ridden morning. She unraveled herself from the black and white linens of the bed and stood wincing when her eyes opened to the brightness of morning. _"Yuck…hangover."_ Not a good first impression when finding a job, she allowed her eyes to focus on the green digital clock numbers seeing it was six in the morning.

She walked slowly toward the sound of cursing and hesitated outside the bathroom. "Selina are you alright?" she was surprised when the door slid open under her knocking hand and her eyes fell on her cousin wrapped in a towel attempting to stop a massive cut on her arm from bleeding. "Nina!" hearing her voice, Selina dropped the washcloth in her hand and whirled finding the familiar madness her cousin had mornings and realized she had to get a story, fast.

Carefully Selina leaned down again placing the cloth on her shoulder. "I'm alright Gracie…had a run in with a mugger downtown, Bruce already has the police looking into it. Last night was dreadful." Had she ever lied to Grace before, not in her lifetime but this time was different.

Selina had to protect Grace from the feline menace she had become, had to protect her and Bruce's dark secret from the world. She ignored the guilt that overwhelmed her and mentally cursed this new menace the 'Ringmaster' for how he had easily tricked her. Grace couldn't shake the feeling that Selina had outright lied to her, but for now her cousin was hurt and no amount of washcloths was stopping that wound.

Grace walked over to her cousin and pushed away the cloth. "You need a doctor…this isn't going to stop." She noticed the previous dirty bandages on the sink and shook her head. "I bet even the couch has blood on it since you clearly didn't stay with me…" she felt her cheeks warm before deciding to change the subject of Selina's sleeping arrangements. "I will look for a job as soon as we get this…

"I already have an appointment." Selina knew what Grace had been trying to avoid. "I slept on the couch because I didn't feel like scaring you." Another lie to add to her ever increasing guilt and miserable life style she was starting to greatly hate.

Grace knew that tone, no argument left in her and her head pounding she surrendered to her insistent cousin. She watched Selina temporarily wrap the wound before she left to dress and see the doctor she promised to go to. Grace wasn't sure what to think anymore, Selina had changed so much since her last stay and she was quite sure that it had been a long time since Selina had outside contact that wasn't Bruce.

She decided a shower and toast would be her best cures for her hangover and foul mood. She considered the damp towels at her feet and shook her head; Selina was more unorganized than she herself had been. Grace found living with Selina much more appealing to her sense of neatness and keeping things up. She admitted to being the messiest woman alive, until she realized her cousin had her beat all to hell at the aspect of disorganized clutter.

The bathroom was littered with dirty laundry, towels, makeup, hair accessories, and more than she could fathom. Her first priority after getting a job was to attempt to put some organization back into Selina's life, she winced seeing her appearance in the mirror and covered her face peeking from between her fingers.

Her gaze lingered on her reflection; fine brown hair standing nearly on end in varied directions, eyes puffy from the dreaded alcohol which had been one of the most annoying things to discover when she first started to go out. Her skin had a somewhat pale look and her pounding head made her wince with each new sound that greeted her ears from the outside city. _"This is going to be a __bad__ day."_ She could already feel the doubt creeping into her body.

Grace wasn't sure if she was ready to face Gotham City; she hadn't dealt with living in a city of this size ever and was usually a tourist. Now she was a city dweller, her peaceful country life gone in the blink of an eye. She knew she was feeling sorry for herself, while she gently nudged things aside from the peach colored counter and finally met her own soft green eyes in the mirror. She could see her own fear, lack of confidence and worry within her own eyes. _"I'm actually scared of the big bad Gotham."_ Her mouth formed into a fine line indicating she was growing agitated with herself; she promptly turned from the mirror and went about stripping for a hot shower.

She wasn't giving up, she had a job to find and a life to have within Gotham whether she liked it or not. Maybe this new start would be just what she needed, anything was better than feeling sorry for herself.

Considering how well his plans were falling together in such an orderly fashion, Max couldn't shake the fact that something would somehow throw a wrench into the works. He had learned the hard way that overconfidence ended badly; his brother was now dead proof of this. His Green gaze steadied upon the familiar Shreck Enterprises building, it seemed eerily silent considering the bodies still bustling in and out of the complex. The papers had indicated no new ownership or other reasons at the moment to shut it down. The employees were steadily gathering in preparation for a massive take over, or the ending of their jobs.

Max smirked darkly eyes focusing on the tall silver building, the smiling cat somehow annoying him in a fashion due to what cats represented to him now. "Time to introduce the new owner and his aggrieved past…" he considered 'Chip' who was his actual nephew, but that was no longer necessary to thrive on. In his opinion the boy had no idea how to deal with what he had in mind for the company. "…Chip…your about to meet a long lost cousin, which your father left as sole owner of his company." A sad form of a smile graced his face; he really didn't want to do this and preferred his guise as the 'Ringmaster' but it was necessary for his plan.

For some reason within his insanity he knew Bruce Wayne had something to do with things, and this was his way of figuring out the connections and putting the pieces of his life back together in a fashion.

Deliberately he made his way up the stairs coming to a halt at the spinning doors, before entering the building. Everything was off white, gray, and silver a comforting reminiscence of home, deep within the sewers of the city where no one would dwell and discover his plan. He stepped across the polished tile coming to a black desk in the middle of the room and met the bored stare of a woman attempting to hide the fact she was painting her nails a glossy red.

"Can I help you sir?" her snobbish tone had little effect on him, which seemed to make her interested. He had cleverly hidden his true appearance behind a skin colored mask and a bit of artistic makeup with the help of the poodle woman.

"Maxwell…" He closed his eyes briefly with a considering thought, Shreck would be too obvious. "…Kersh." Cleverly leaving out the 'C' in his name seemed strange, but it was short notice and his background was already planned.

She nodded apparently already gathering he had a meeting. Soon he would again own his company and regain his status in society. _"This makeup itches."_ The thought made him smile slightly, he would make a note not to wear it unless he had to be seen within the building, or by those who new Max Shreck's true face. He also had already planned to obtain a townhouse near the Gotham Zoo to further his plans and live in a life style more suited to his nature. _"Organ grinder, and poodle woman will be suited for staff along with some of the others, this will be a rather large charade and show to the world."_ He kept his smile hidden within knowing it would appear strange to the people already staring at him curiously.

He fidgeted irritably waiting for his appointment with the appropriate people up within their towers; the black suit caught his attention hoping to keep the probing eyes from bothering him too much. He now understood why he had let his brother be the public eye; he truly loathed attention unlike Michael who seemed to thrive for it.

"Ow." She sighed glancing down at the sidewalk underfoot; high heels had been a bad choice for that day. "Eight places and still no luck." She felt defeated within the towering metal bonds around her; it was almost as though she was deep in a prison cell with guards laughing at her.

Her feet hurt, head hurt, and worst of all she couldn't shake the feeling the city was out to claim her. She felt like a bird with clipped wings within an infuriated world. Granted the small town she had been in wasn't exactly Sunnybrook farm, but people hadn't been this cold to her before. Her attention finally come to rest on the last of the job openings on her list, this would be it for her first day and then she would try again if this also failed.

Ten minutes later she was again on the street glaring at the black building, she had been told she was over qualified for the position, she wasn't the least bit pleased and had let her temper win over better judgment. It wasn't the best way for her to get a job or respect for that matter.

"Blasted city." She hissed through clenched teeth before making her way across the street, careful to stick with the crosswalks, people in the city were nuts when it came to driving in her opinion. "I need a rest." She paused at the corner of one of the streets glancing at a small café.

She carefully made her way into the glass doors before allowing her eyes to take in the décor. It was rather ritzy with black and white checkered tiles, red clothed tables and a dark wood counter, but it was cozy enough. She made her way to a table nearest to the front windows and seated herself deciding on a small lunch before attempting her hunt within the city again.


	3. Chapter 3: Cemetery Days

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._**  
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**Chapter 3: Cemetery Days**

"Selina I wish you hadn't gone after him on your own. Sometimes those feline…

"Bruce." She warned sharply seeing his dark gaze focus on the monitors within the Batcave intently. "I know what I did was foolish, but I am a cat." She still hadn't gotten used to the creepy caverns of the Batcave.

She had learned of the caves and that they were part of the underground foundation for the manor, she admired how quickly Bruce had gotten technology within the caverns and made it his own personal crime lab. She still didn't care for the rodents that lived freely within the shadows, or the strange coolness that seemed to always linger within the darkness. They had been down there for hours trying to determine who this mysterious madman announcing himself as being the 'Ringmaster' was and what he had to do with the deadly circus that had retreated for several weeks after the incidents within the underground sewers.

Bruce knew of her nature but he couldn't help the protectiveness he had over her. "How is Grace doing with her first day in the city?" Selina hadn't checked on Grace in hours which made her guilt seem to increase; she casually reached into the pocket of her gray slacks and held her silver phone close.

"Probably horribly…she hates large cities." She smiled wryly at the understatement, Grace didn't hate them, she despised them and the noise that came with them. "I should check in with her." He nodded watching Selina pick at her pink shirt irritably almost like she was frustrated with something before going off to talk with her cousin.

Bruce again focused on his database trying to figure out who their latest madman in Gotham really was. He didn't want Selina harmed again and especially didn't want any more problems within the city than there was already, it was hard enough being Batman without more things to disrupt his life. He knew this would be equally difficult for Selina due to her cousin visiting and living with her at the moment; it was strangely bad timing all the way around according to the way their lives seemed to work.

"Poor Gracie." Selina was again at his side, before wrapping her arms around his neck steadying her gaze on the monitors before them. "Not much luck in the job department, she's seething." She knew that Grace was frustrated, a trait that was true to a fault and easily found within her cousin if things didn't go her way.

Grace glared over her now empty lunch angry she hadn't found a job within her first day, clearly tired of Gotham city already and even more annoyed with Selina's soft insistence that Bruce could help her. She wanted her independence not her cousin and her rich boyfriend's handouts, sometimes her pride did get the better of her but she didn't want to dwell on that now.

Her eyes focused on the diner woman who she hadn't bother to really acknowledge, before she handed over the money for lunch and a tip. "Time to go beat the big city at its own game." She was more determined than ever now and was going to ignore her protesting feet until hell itself froze over.

After another three hours of fruitless searching she gave up, this was just too frustrating and she needed to find a place to think. She stopped in her long walk not sure where she had been headed and found herself outside the tall cemetery gates of Gotham City. She hadn't been there since she was a teen; it had been at least ten years since she considered visiting her grandparents. She had lived in Gotham once briefly with her mother before her grandparents had died, that was when country life had claimed her.

It was strangely haunting peering through all those tombstones of varying sizes, but she was sure her feet still remembered the way. Her grandmother Abigail had been a determined woman, with a certain refined nature within her semi-rich crowds. Grace never really recalled wealth or what it was like, but she had known her grandparents had been in the upper class. Her grandfather Quinn had been a rough man, but was like melted butter when it came to his girls and these small memories brought a brief smile to her lips.

She carefully navigated her way through the slightly unkempt paths, leading her way through statues of great height announcing 'in memory' and other such titles. Finally she found a path that led to the back of the cemetery and paused in front of a slightly withered looking maple tree, leaves long ago had fallen across the gray stones before her with familiar names deep in the granite material. She knelt down peering at them with familiarity, allowing the memories of the day they had been taken away one at a time. Her grandfather had succumbed to poor health and a weak heart, a year later her grandmother had died from a stroke and no one had seen it coming not even her rich high to do doctors.

She heard rustling further down from her grandparents stones and tilted her head at a lone figure carefully kneeling with a pale colored flower in hand, he was tall wearing a black trench coat over what she could tell was a well tailored suit, his graying hair seemed to have life of it's own. She had always been one to leave others to their own business but the strange way he held himself made her curiosity take on a life of its own.

She observed him appear to wipe something from his face and lower a material within his coat. He seemed not exactly sad, but almost amused and angry. The best way Grace could seem to describe him was maybe a bit off. She jumped hearing the sound of fluttering nearby and silently cursed the crow within the trees. A cliché she had grown to loathe over time, it would seem every time she was within a cemetery those birds would make it a point to startle her.

His attention quickly snapped from Michael's grave slowly focusing on a startled cry from across the way. A woman appeared to be cursing at a black bird within the trees, her hands waving angrily at the crow. A slow smirk crossed his face at how strange she appeared at first._"People claim I am mad, she may very well be off in the head as well."_ He noted her turn back his way and quickly return her attention to a grave.

He frowned at this, for some reason he couldn't shake the feeling she had been studying him and yet she didn't seem familiar. Being quite popular with people in Gotham thanks to his brother and his own research he wasn't entirely sure she was from Gotham to begin with. She seemed out of place, but he wasn't about to go strolling up and give his identity away like that. Did she know who he really was though, was a concern he would have to face, it wasn't like anyone would hear her scream they were very much alone.

She realized during her issue with the crow she had gained the strange mans attention and he was making his way through the maze of tombstones toward her. _"Shit…damn bird."_ She allowed her eyes to focus on the crow with daggers seeming to streak into its dark form, unfortunately it wasn't effective in the way she wished. The bird cawed mocking her in a sort before leaving her to the stranger who was getting closer.

"Leave Grace." She sighed wishing she could stop talking to herself so often; eventually someone would have her committed.

Instead of furthering her embarrassment she proceeded to navigate her way around the headstones, allowing her fingers to wave in a fashion to her grandparents. She would visit again soon since it was the only comforting memories of the city that she currently loathed. Her ears seemed to hum realizing the stranger had picked up his pace to catch up with her, she was quite sure she wasn't letting her imagination run away with her either.

_CRASH_

To her astonishment she had managed to wrangle herself overtop of a low headstone and was now planted face first within the cold ground, her ankle now throbbing in protest at her stupid move.

She carefully rolled to a sitting position swearing angrily, before testing her ankle seeing she had only given herself a small bruise. "Ouch." She sighed miserably at how her day seemed to keep getting shoddier. "Could have been worse…" she stopped her eyes focusing on polished shoes a few inches off to her side and a black gloved hand offering her help up.

She realized it had been the odd mad that had literally given her an uneasy creeping feeling. "Are you alright miss?" carefully she glanced up meeting Green eyes of the man and felt her heart skip a beat, she was more concerned if he was dangerous than about herself.

"Yes." She managed seeing a slow curve of his lips and wondering if it was a leering smirk or a friendly one. "This just isn't my day." Her concern still lingering she allowed him to help her to her feet and brushed off her black slacks and noticed her arm was also bruising before her coat sleeve fell back into place. "Thank you." She couldn't seem to shake the feeling that she should keep walking and forget him.

"Glad to assist…" Max considered the way she acted, she had no idea who he truly was and as he had assumed by her actions she was not native to Gotham City. "Maxwell Kersh…Max if you please." He appeared harmless enough, but she reminded herself that things in Gotham weren't always what they seemed.

"Thank you for your help…" she paused trying to figure out why she had the urge to run, he didn't seem to be an evil criminal or monster in terms she had been warned about by Selina over and over again. "…Max. I'm Grace Sable." She gingerly shook the hand of her rescuer before brushing off some more at her now snow and mud covered cloths. _"So much for job hunting."_ She felt his eyes studying her and wondered if she had misjudged her feelings too soon.

"Grace…not quite what I expected of one with such a name." She didn't like his amused tone in the least and made it a point to offer him a withering look. "Do you need some assistance Gracie?" she literally winced at that loathed nickname, Selina getting away with it was one thing, but this stranger was another matter.

"Grace" She knew the warning was given she could see him quirk a brow that smirk still lingering giving him a pompous air of sorts. "I think I can manage Max…thank you again for your help." She started toward the path again, but unfortunately she had misjudged her bruised ankle, nearly again collided with the cemetery ground.

He heard her hiss in painful surprise already gathering she had hurt herself more than she had assumed. "I think you do Ms. Sable." The man was aggravating, but she knew he was correct in assuming she was screwed.

She slowly met those Green eyes and wondered briefly if punching him in the nose would hurt his feelings much, she didn't find him overly amusing but he had a flair she couldn't help but find strangely entertaining.

"I think I can attempt to wrangle a cab outside the gates Mr. Kersh…thank you for your assistance." She continued her slow attempt toward the cemetery exit sadly several feet away.

Max again arched a brow; this woman had a very touchy exterior. "In the middle of the afternoon in Gotham City…very unlikely." He had to know just how aware she was of his true identity, even if he had already gathered the answer something was bothering him.

Grace had no idea what the city would be like in the afternoon, he was obviously native to Gotham and knew it by far more than she did. She realized she would have to let her pride slide and accept his help, at least until she could rest her ankle and get home. She really didn't want to call Selina on her cell and receive a lecture for being in the cemetery. She didn't want to hear about the stranger either, Selina would never shut up after this and insist on helping her job search.

Carefully meeting his gaze she sighed. "What do you suggest then Max?" he admitted her bluntness had taken him by surprise, but she appeared to push aside her pride momentarily.

He couldn't shake the feeling she would rather deal with a perfect stranger than someone else. She appeared to be far too prideful and independent for her own good.

"I would suggest you call someone…

"I would rather not bother my cousin. She's rather…" Grace paused trying to find a good word and surrendered. "…motherly, annoyingly so at times, but mostly too overprotective, Selina would lecture me until my ears fall off." He considered leaving her behind; he really didn't need this on top of all he already had going through his mind, but instead of sticking with that thought his attention instantly was caught by the name 'Selina'.

"Selina?" Grace nodded seeing she had somehow managed his interest again. "I take it you and your cousin have your differences…more so than you prefer?" she didn't think he needed to know her life history, but his help was necessary at the moment.

"Sort of…my family isn't the point. Can you help me or not?" He was again taken back slightly by her abrasive nature, but he had a feeling there was more there than met the eye.

He wanted to go back to his plans for revenge, back to his newly acquired home, and back to disentangling his web of insanity. He still had to avenge Michael and show Gotham what he was capable of. First was getting rid of the rodent and cat that seemed to be an ever growing thorn in his mind.

Help the girl or go home? Finally he decided the name was far too much of a coincidence to just let Grace slip through his fingers. "I can help you." She wasn't sure if she wanted his help, she still didn't like the vibe he gave off.

She nodded in acceptance of her fate and slowly turned to make her way back to the cemetery gates, she was a little apprehensive and surprised when he walked up beside her and easily lifted her arm around his back, before gripping her waist in support. _"This is not what I had in mind today."_ He ignored his resentment at helping this woman and carefully led her down familiar paths toward the gates.

An hour later with more effort on her part than she would have cared to admit Grace was outside the gates of Gotham Cemetery, with Max keeping her from again crashing to the ground. It was late in the afternoon, growing dark and she had yet to find her way home. _"Selina may be my only hope."_ With reluctance she allowed her free arm to slip into her pocket and pull out her cell phone. She watched his hand reach out returning it to her pocket, before turning toward a car parked farther down the street. She stopped immediately uncomfortable with the idea of him leading her anywhere. He was a stranger and clearly he wasn't all together upstairs.

Slowly she met those strange blue eyes, but she could detect no harm within them. She did see a strange coldness there, an almost evil, but couldn't seem to think he wished her harm. _"Stupid!"_ she should know better than hope for the best in people, life had been out after her entire family since she could remember.

Max could see the hesitation, why was he a criminal mastermind dawdling with this woman. He had far better things to accomplish, but the name 'Selina' was still unanswered between them, he had to know if this woman was referring to Selina Kyle. He had to know how much she knew of the woman she claimed her cousin, if this was the case he could work this into his plans. Revenge would be far less complicated if he could just find an easier route.

Reluctantly she began to follow his stride again, before letting out a startled sound finding that she had nearly pulled them both down finding a cracked piece within the sidewalk. Luckily he was far more skilled at walking than she obviously was as of late.

"Grace…I still think it strange you don't have the stamina of your name." She sent him an icy glare for the mocking tone in his voice, before noting a strange spark in his gaze. "Won't Selina be worried about you?" his voice sounded almost silky like he was fishing for something, but she was quite oblivious to this, Selina would be climbing the walls by now since it was clearly getting dark.

He could see her considering this, he had hit home with the family issue she seemed to cherish. "Unfortunately yes…she's probably calling the cops by now. Unlikely they will care until tomorrow though. I should call her…

"Let me get you taken care of first. That is my driver waiting to take me to my home. There you can call her and…" he saw her brows furrow, she was clearly one that listened well to the warnings that mothers gave there daughters. 'Strangers were dangerous'; he had to reconsider a way of getting the information he needed and her trust. "Would your cousin object to coming to my house to collect you? I have my own physician that can look at your ankle?" now he was getting somewhere, slowly she flipped open her phone almost suspicious of his actions, while he carefully told her his address.

"Probably…at least she won't go into mother mode if she knows I got sidetracked from finding a job today and a nice gentlemen helped me." It felt foreign to be considered nice, or a gentleman for that matter but he nodded allowing her to continue. "Selina Kyle don't you dare yell at me." She continued into a mild rant, clearly her cousin was more concerned than she anticipated.

If it hadn't been for the fact he was supporting Grace during her discussion, he would have twirled within the strange music again playing in his mind. Selina Kyle was within his grasp now, it would just take time. He heard Grace sound slightly miffed, but knew he could work this in his favor easily enough. He had Selina Kyle in his grasp and her cousin to further the humiliation.

He finally noticed the deep scowl on Graces expression and saw her eyes linger on her phone tiredly. "She was so worried, but now that I'm safe she's sending her boyfriends driver to get me. She has office work to attend to again, apparently Bruce Wayne has a lot of paperwork for her personal care." She hated feeling like her cousin was favoring Bruce over her, but something had changed since her last visit and she didn't like any of it.

Thankfully Grace was fine, Selina had been nearly panicked enough to go find her herself even if she did find her in Catwoman guise she would at least be home safe and sound. The name Max had nearly sent her heart to the floor, before hearing 'Kersh' and realizing he was the new individual that Bruce had been talked to about. He had just recently acquired Max Shreck's business and was a distant relative to the family. It bothered her that her cousin was associated with one of Max Shreck's family, but at least she was safe and being taken to a doctor for her injured ankle.

She couldn't understand why Grace had been in the cemetery at first, but then she remembered her great aunt and uncle and realized Grace was probably visiting them. It had been years and with a fruitless job search her cousin was bound to get agitated.

Max helped her into the smaller version of a limo, allowing her to easily slide across the cool seats and settle in. His instructions were simple and soon they were moving across town to his home. Her attention focused miserably on her ankle, not only did she loathe heels right now, but how was she supposed to find a job in this predicament? She would surly be laid up with a sprain knowing her current rounds of luck as of late. _"Selina won't let me be."_ Another depressing thought to add to the un-ending list.

Carefully he studied her, something about how she seemed so strained with Selina had carefully clawed into his intricate darkly laced mind. It wasn't the insanity talking this time either, he was quite sure that his plan had changed and apparently with a new fixture involved. How was he to get his plan to work without involving the obvious issue between the cousins? He could hurt Selina much better with Grace being a pawn in his game.

Grace didn't like how he was watching her; it was like his mind was slowly putting her into something. It unnerved her and the silence slowly creeping around like a murky echo wasn't helping her concentration either. The last thing Grace wanted to do was find anyone attractive in Gotham, she didn't want to add that to lists that seemed to forever lengthen in her thoughts, and she especially didn't want feelings to develop for the strange rude individual she was currently with. Oddly enough though his strange almost haunting behavior was doing something, affection was not what she wanted and she immediately let her mind wander to the lecture she knew was emanate from Selina.

Slowly he come back from the mist of his chaotic thoughts, seeing her green eyes had focused on him briefly, before she seemed to immediately turn to darker less pleasant thoughts. Her face was livid with unvoiced issues; he could see her tense closing her eyes almost surrendering to something that would slowly suck her life away. She had seen him now, but Selina wouldn't be. He had heard her conversation, and had anticipated ways around any issues with those associated with Grace in the short time he had found out who her cousin was.

He couldn't stop thinking about how his plan reflected that of a villain in some fairytale, but what was this strange sensation he had when she was angered. It was a sick sort of glee knowing her and Selina weren't like he had suspected, he wanted her to feel that way, he wanted her to loathe Selina as much as he himself did. _"I want her to feel what I feel, know how I hurt…I want her to hate Selina Kyle."_ He wasn't sure why this thought possessed him, but it was strangely satisfying to know this woman did indeed not overly care for her cousin, but what brought about this change in her was another matter he had to discover.

Grace decided to reflect on her return to Selina, this visit was different because she had felt abandoned by her cousin, she was more worried about Bruce and paperwork than her well being, she had lied to her that morning she was sure of it, she was also very sure Selina was lying about other things too. Selina was no longer her cousin, but a strange enigma, a woman she no longer knew or understood. A job was now very important to her and a place to call her own. She felt like a burden before, but now she felt completely unwanted and the strange secrets lurking in every corner was disturbing her even more.

"You get hurt if you think that hard." His voice snapped her from her dismal thoughts, slowly her green eyes met those ice blues and what she saw made her shiver, there was something there that was almost evil glee. "I never thought you the brooding type."

Grace frowned disliking how she had been read almost too well. "What do you think my type is Max?" it was rhetorical, but clearly he felt it necessary to reciprocate anyway.

"Easily amused, freedom seeking, too much pride. Clearly your cousin has done something to offend you." She grimaced, how the hell did he so accurately guess her darkest thoughts?

It was almost like Max Kersh hated her cousin, sadly she found she wasn't overly fond of her much anymore either. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're quite conceited?" she was graced with a chuckle that was of pure amusement, a spark lingering in his gaze.

"No one has ever dared actually." That tone did sound like a warning; she felt goose flesh claim her arms. "But…your opinions have amused me. You're blunt, prideful, and should know better than to allow those traits in a city like Gotham. Bit dangerous for a little girl like yourself." She bristled, how dare he insult her so easily.

All his favors to her suddenly left her mind. "I would have you know that I am not little and nearly thirty-eight. You can't be much over that and I happen to like my worst traits." She gave into an old childish urge and crossed her arms glaring at the floor.

Her face was flush; this man was so infuriating it was slowly driving her mad. "Why are you acting like a child then Gracie? It isn't befitting for someone with your fire." Was he manipulating her? It was strange that his thoughts would get ahead of him often, but now he was quite sure he was doing far more than just manipulating her.

Max come to the realization he had a very dark plan, he would turn Grace against Selina and even more entertaining was the plan slowly curving at recess in his mind, he was going to win this woman over and crush her spirit. _"Easy to do if this keeps in my favor."_ He could see that danger in those soft green eyes; he had again pushed some hidden buttons.

"I am not a child…and don't call me Gracie." She hissed her fists balled at her sides, this was something she had never felt before, this man was truly conceited, irritating and yet she couldn't hate him.

"Gracie." He smirked at the dark look aimed his way. "I will call you what I will until I see fit…" he glanced up when the car stopped. "…my doctor will see to your ankle, and then we shall discuss this further." She was dismissed and really didn't appreciate it in the least.

She was surprised when a thick shouldered man with a white suit greeted her exit from the car; he looked more like a strong man from a circus than a doctor. He gathered her into his large arms and proceeded toward a great two story house that was on the edge of the city. Its gothic looming presence hung over her like dead claws, the sinister dark colored green house seemed like it belonged in a horror movie at best. She gathered her wits ignoring the creak offered when they entered through the thick wooden doors.

She was aware of Max placing aside his jacket revealing a near black suit and watched his pale hand wave the 'doctor' toward a sitting room off to the side. She hadn't gathered much of the house upon her entrance, but found the sitting room rather pleasant. She was seated on an overstuffed antique style couch, feeling the rich red velvet fabric under her hands. Her coat was gathered by the doctor and placed into the waiting arms of a rather dark looking butler who left before she could get a good look.

Her observations landed on the lit fireplace, carefully lingering around the dark green walls and settling on the chairs that matched the couch she was on. The carpet felt spongy under her heeled feet and slowly her attention focused on the honey color before Max entered the room taking the seat next to her waiting for the doctors' opinion.


	4. Chapter 4: Quests End

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

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**Chapter 3: Quests End**

"What does the good doctor have to say about Gracie's predicament?" She grit her teeth at the light tone in his voice wanting to again tell him off, something was stopping her though and she couldn't put her finger on what. "Rather clumsy of her to fall over herself so much." He smiled ignoring the dagger filled glare aimed his way.

Slowly the strongman inspected the girls ankle, clearly the Ringmaster had plans for this woman otherwise she would be dead. "A bruise…nothing more, she should regain strength in it soon enough. Miss…I would recommend no heels for a while." He stood bowing before leaving her again with Max.

"_Lovely_." There goes her job prospects, a woman in sneakers wasn't glamorous in her line of work and would instantly get her frowned upon. Max again noticed her dismal thoughts take hold of her and studied her dark expression. There was something in her eyes that stated conflicting emotions.

What did this girl do for a living? Why was she with Selina if she could barely stand her? How much about Selina did Grace really know? The questions were slowly gnawing at his patience and what was left of his sanity. Before he could focus his thoughts, he allowed his questions to be voiced.

"What do you do Grace?" She turned to his strangely civil, almost weary tone tilting her head in curiosity.

Was he truly interested or just looking for something else to nettle her with. "Design…fashion and architectural." His brow seemed to curve in interest, green gaze meeting hers. "I moved out here due to extenuating circumstances, Selina offered to help me out until I could settle in Gotham myself." _"Settle in Gotham City…pleasant thought, __not_ Her attention returned to the flames dancing across from them, before meeting those eerily amused eyes again. "What about you?"

"_Career criminal."_ He grinned at what he pictured her reaction would be, before taking this conversation a bit more seriously. "Business…I took over my late cousins company…" he wondered what her reaction would be and smiled slightly at her curious look. "…Shreck Enterprises. He was killed and they found him buried within the sewers where he was dragged, his body was stolen though after being uncovered by what was once the strong man of a deadly circus, apparently they found the need to again take the body from the coroner's office. It's a rather long story." It was strange talking about Michael like it was himself, but it was something he had grown used to over time. "What style of design do you prefer?" he wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this conversation, but his mind was working long before he was.

"Depends on what is needed. I prefer gothic and Victorian fixtures though. I always loved my interior design and architectural skills." She couldn't figure out how he had gone from agitating to interesting in the span of ten minutes, he was still strangely threatening in her opinion though. "I'm sorry to hear about your cousin." It was only polite to offer her condolences.

Her last comment threw him slightly; most people would care less about what happened to a business tycoon within Gotham city even if they were prominent and well known. She was truly the country bumpkin at heart which he again seemed to find useful in his plans. Grace was not naive, but she wasn't the cleverest person in the world either. She had a strange caring quality that made her too kind for the city, it was rather endearing in a pathetic fashion in his opinion. _"Why do I find her useful…my original plan was fine."_ He was puzzled by how this woman had gone from a nuisance during his visit to his brother, to an interest, almost riddle of sorts.

"Thank you." He started to ask more questions turning to the organ grinder disguised as his butler, his dry voice cutting into the quiet air of the room.

"A phone call for you sir." Max nodded excusing himself from her presence.

Grace was starting to grow more comfortable around Max, but she couldn't bring herself to trust him. His eyes reflected the darkest of cruelty, a constant calculating look that just was unpleasant to her. Strangely though she wasn't sure she didn't like his company, he seemed intelligent, strangely distant but social in a sense. She got the impression he was private and liked to stick to himself and those he knew, she didn't see him the public type to run a business like Shreck Enterprises. As strange as he was, maybe even eccentric there was a vibe off of him, maybe a sort of dark sadness or vengeance? She wasn't quite sure what to describe her feelings about Max Kersh, but she was very sure that he could be dangerous. He seemed the type to always have his way, much like someone that had never been challenged before.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the strange butler walking into the room and fixing the fire. He was tall with a shaggy sort of beard, dark circles under dark almost onyx eyes, but his suite was well designed and seemed of a fine material. She got the impression he was purposely avoiding her gaze at all costs, which was furthered when he immediately turned from her line of vision exiting into the house again. Not only was Maxwell Kersh strange, his entire staff gave her the creeps, or at least the ones she had seen so far.

He knew his disguised circus friends were curious to his lack of disposing of Grace Sable, he could feel their eyes following him with each pace of his steps. He was standing at the edge of the doorway observing her trying to figure out exactly how she had changed his plans, how she had fit into this whole madness within his mind. Granted she was a way to easily access Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne, but her strange disgust for her cousin had intrigued him.

She didn't exactly hate her cousin, but was somewhat hurt and betrayed. He could easily move that along the lines of pure hatred, but why did he even want to do this? It wasn't in his nature to like people, or be around them. That was the whole point of Michael being in the public eye and him hiding out among the shadows, forever lingering like a dark angel in the night. He had failed his brother and himself in the long run, but had recovered with an even more important goal in just a few weeks.

"Sir?" Slowly his blue gaze flickered to the organ grinder at his side. "You seem troubled." Indeed he could see Max was troubled, he was rather unnerved himself to see the sudden changes in the Ringmaster.

His gaze caught the poodle woman lingering in the kitchen doorway her dark eyes focused on them both with a wary sort of look on her face. Something had changed in the Ringmasters plight, something that didn't settle well with any of them, not like they felt overly comfortable with him to begin with. So far though he had kept his promise, had kept them safe, and given them reason to thrive again. None of them dared to question him, he was a dangerous man and none of them were sure that he was capable of compassion.

Max allowed his attention back on Grace. "Not troubled…perplexed" his voice sounded haunted, distant and the strange music he seemed to only hear was reaching a disturbing crescendo. _"She is too soft for this city."_ The realization that he knew he wanted her in his plans troubled him, what bothered him most was he didn't know why he wanted her involved.

Grace glanced up seeing Max slowly enter back into the room, he appeared baffled over something, it wasn't reassuring her in the least either. "Max are you alright?" her meek sounding voice stirred him from his thoughts.

"Yes." Blunt and too the point, but it didn't settle his insecurities about her presence. "Do you design parties by chance?" his eyes half lidded lowering to the flames. _"Where did that come from?"_ again his mind seemed to be several steps ahead of him.

Grace arched her brow at the question wondering what he was getting at. "I have before…depending on the theme. Why?" she felt a strange icy hold within her gut, she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to her question when she saw a strange spark in those haunted eyes.

"_A job is the way to gain her trust, this may just be what I need."_ He settled back beside her with a strange elegance that made her anxiousness grow. "Would you accept a job working through my company?" he watched her expression go from nervous to instant surprise.

Her heart stopped, was he serious? She felt very uncomfortable with this idea though considering what little she knew of him and how much he creeped her out. She wanted a job desperately but wasn't so sure this was the right one for her. _"Selina will constantly be there to remind me she could get me one with Bruce, I don't want her help. I need to do this on my own."_ She still felt sour toward her cousin, even a bit hurt.

"I would…but what is the catch Max?" she didn't want this to be because he felt sorry for her, or found her life oddly entertaining. She wanted this to be because of her skill.

If he hadn't been conscious that she would ask something similar he would have grimaced, but the urge passed, another plan forming in his mind. "Because I'm in need of a skilled designer…I plan to re-open Shreck Enterprises and would like to host a masked ball within the main room of the building. If you would feel more suited to bring your portfolio to the office tomorrow morning I will have a proper meeting with you to discuss matters?" in spite of herself Grace allowed a small smile to cross her lips, maybe he was a serious business tycoon after all.

"That would be fine Max…thank you for offering me a chance." Again the butler appeared, but this time Alfred followed in behind him with a sort of out of character nervousness about him.

"Miss Sable?" She smiled warmly wondering why Max excused himself to another room so quickly, but decided that would be for another time. "Selina wanted me to express her concern…how is your ankle?" it was warming to know that at least Alfred gave a damn that she was hurt, she found herself rather fond of his kindness.

"Not sprained, just bruised." Gingerly she climb to her feet finding her ankle to be a bit more agreeable. "Thank you Mr. Kersh." She called softly wondering why everyone seemed to retreat from Alfred.

Grace thanked Alfred for dropping her off and his kindness. She liked the butler and his fatherly ways, she decided that he may have been the only good thing during her visit so far. She at least got a job out of her rather rotten day, unexpected to say the least but it was a pleasant feeling to feel secure in herself again.

Her eyes instantly fell on the disarray of Selina's apartment the strangely unnerving amount of feline's that seemed to make this their stop. She felt midnight brush against her ankles smiling softly at the feline, before making her way to bedroom. First things first, she had to make the place livable whether Selina approved or not, plus it would help her built up energy and unshakable nerves to do something other than sit around.

Selina found herself stiff glancing through information Bruce had produced within the caves on the new owner of Shreck Enterprises, she still had her doubts about this mysterious cousin and couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to take place. She had basically blown off Grace's injury in favor of finding this menace that had harmed her feline pride; Selina Kyle was again being buried within the guise of Catwoman.

She sighed defeated by the fact it was getting late and she would eventually have to go face Grace, she was perturbed with the fact that neither Bruce nor she could find a bit of information on the Ringmaster, or much on the deadly circus for that matter. Her frustrations would have to wait for a better time to be allowed free though, she currently had to see how her cousins job searching had gone and what kind of organized fit Grace had gone into at her apartment.

Grace had organized the bedroom to something tolerable with most items in neat piles and spaces among the dresser and floors. The closet she knew was hopeless, had given up on that before even starting, and she had succeeded in making the bathroom livable again. The living room and kitchen would have to wait until she found her energy again, and the cat farm left.

"Gracie?" she groaned at her cousin's singsong entry, before daring to glance out of the bedroom. "Ah…good, how did the job search go?" Selina knew very well Grace was more or less annoyed with her absence, she also knew very well that her other identity had probably put a rift in their relationship. It didn't mean she wouldn't try to act interested in her cousin's life though. "I hope you didn't have too much trouble after your ankle?" Grace felt the concern, but there was a strange coldness within Selina's voice that she couldn't place.

Again the lies, shadows, and secrets were clinging to them like unwanted memories. "I found one…Maxwell Kersh offered me the position of designer at his company, providing my interview goes well tomorrow." She saw Selina make a slight face, before unloading Chinese take out on the counter and starting to sort the food. "Why does everyone seem to loathe him, it's not like he is the deceased Max Shreck…he's actually pleasant in a strange way." She couldn't believe she had just put pleasant and Max in the same sentence.

Selina didn't dare let her personal feelings on Max Shreck enter this conversation, her death experience and Catwoman identity was something that Grace absolutely did not need to know. She had been his secretary; Selina knew that Grace gathered that much during her last stay, she also knew Selina didn't like the man.

"Bad memories are all Gracie. I may have misjudged Mr. Kersh." Selina nearly spat the sentence, for some reason she was very touchy that night and Grace seemed distant.

Grace didn't feel the need to battle with Selina, clearly she had a bad day at work with someone and she wasn't entirely sure if it was Bruce Wayne or someone else. She didn't feel the urge to know, Selina had changed and she was starting to wonder if she even wanted to know this new Selina Kyle in place of her once strangely nerdish cousin.

"Whatever Nina." She accepted her offered food and made her way to the couch half listening to the news of Gotham and shaking her head at the story about the newest threat to Gotham, she never bothered to watch the television always finding her own designs more interesting to work with, but she did listen it was one of her only sources to get information in her own little world. "Does Gotham attract all the weird ones, or is it just the fact this city is taken care of by Batman? This Ringmaster character has no class." Selina winced at the mention of the Ringmaster, she heard Bruce had a long talk with the commissioner; clearly this madman was just as unpleasant as the others in Gotham City.

"Perhaps." Selina didn't really care to discuss the criminal activity of Gotham; she would have rather slithered under the couch and avoided the subject all together. She couldn't shake the guilt toward Grace. "What kind of job are you doing for Mr. Kersh first?" she forced an interested smile, her curly bob seeming almost flat to fit her mood, which Grace noticed first.

Selina's hair always had a life to it, but it always seemed to shift with her moods. It always amused her to see how her cousins' different moods affected her personal appearance.

"He's planning a masquerade party for the reintroduction of Shreck Enterprises…I think he just wants to show off what changes he has in store. He doesn't strike me as a flamboyant type though. He will probably be hiding out during the festivities." She smirked already remembering his strangely distant behavior. _"Or someone may think him mad enough to be sent to Arkam…that isn't a pleasant idea at all."_ She found herself disliking the fact he was so strange, someone could mistake him for an escapee from the asylum.

She shook aside her thoughts seeing Selina's intent gaze watching her carefully, her lip in a strange half smirk. "Gracie…do you like this Mr. Kersh?" it was amusing to tease her cousin, but she wasn't sure she liked that possibility knowing so little about the new intruder in the business world.

Anyone related to Max Shreck no matter the distance reminded Selina of her past and she didn't want her cousin hurt. She had to learn more about this man before things got totally out of order in her life and she lost all of Grace's respect.

Grace shook her head. "No." she stated firmly ignoring the strange tingle in her face, she hadn't liked him but now she wasn't so sure. Selina knew her emotionally better than she herself did. "He's self indulgent, conceited, and irritating. He has a strange haunted feel about him though…almost like he prefers distance over people." She didn't sound so convincing to herself that meant Selina wasn't buying a damn word of her answer.

"Hmm." Selina's attention returned to the television report again discussing the Ringmaster, but her cousin's new interest seemed more persisting at the time. "So you're saying that you do like him." Green eyes lowered a completely confused expression on Grace's face making Selina a little worried.

"I don't think so Selina. He's just odd…complicated and I don't need that." There was no way Grace was admitting to possibly liking her future boss. Not only was that bad for her career, but she didn't want a personal life.

Grace wanted to organize herself in Gotham before even worrying about issues with men, she needed to sort her life first. Most importantly after accomplishing a job was finding herself a place to stay, a home to call her own. Selina was still strangely cold and again she felt put off.

Disturbing it was to Max to find Grace Sable at all interesting. He had a perfect plan until this woman somehow ended up under his nose, how could this work with so many people that knew his identity? Grace was the only one ignorant of his true appearance; clearly she didn't pay much attention to the business world or much else. He would have to take a case to work with him to reapply and remove his disguise accordingly, he felt like he had literally cracked his own plan into a million pieces.

Max paced the sitting room he had once attended to Grace's injuries with the help of the strong man; he couldn't focus long enough to continue with his next criminal activity. The woman was persistently haunting his thoughts, putting a wrench into his works so to speak.

_CRASH_

His attention turned to the familiar clatter in the kitchen, the poodle woman would probably never get the hang of running a household of this nature. He shook his head again allowing his thoughts to return to this new problem. An almost evil smile began to play across his face; maybe the Ringmaster would make an appearance at his masquerade gala. Perhaps that would be just the thing he needed for Selina Kyle to reveal her true identity.

Grace groaned sliding from the insistent poking sensation she was receiving, before feeling the blankets snagged from her grasp. _"I may not like where she is working or the idea she is working for Max Shreck's cousin, but I'm not letting her miss out on her job. Gracie would never forgive me."_ This time she yanked hard forcing Grace to flop rather bluntly on her back eyes widened at the sudden wake up call.

"Finally…you're going to be late Gracie." She was up out of bed before Selina could say anymore, the bathroom door slamming closed behind her. "Hmm…that worked." She smirked again frowning at the folders she had to tuck into her working case; she didn't need to explain those. "GRACIE I'M LEAVING!" she called deciding it would be a good idea to get over to Wayne Industries and see what Bruce had uncovered in his clever business man skin.

Grace glanced up at the sound of Selina's call, before returning her attention to her shower and scrubbing harder at her hair than needed. Again Selina had wormed into her thoughts with her whole 'liking Max theory', she cursed miserably at the continued possibilities in her mind. She was not falling for her boss, he was far too strange for her liking and that was just not acceptable.

_THUD_

"Ow." She groaned painfully at her exit from the shower glad that Selina had at least left enough of her chaos that morning to make hitting the tiles a little less painful, she was again attempting to kill herself. "Another one of those days is not what I need." She got to her feet wrapping herself in a peach colored towel and proceeded to work on drying her hair and figuring out an acceptable way of doing it up out of her face.

She finally decided on an up twist using one of Selina's snap clips, before drying herself off and pulling on a button down navy sweater over matching black pinstriped pants. This was going to go well if she could find her portfolio among the chaos that had again seeped into Selina's room. _"I clean, sort, and she wrecks. What a perfect way to live."_ She pushed aside her callous thoughts toward her cousin. If Selina had changed that much maybe it was a good thing that they rarely saw much of each other, it would be even better when she was out on her own.

"_Shit."_ She managed to fumble around for her sneakers, before nearly tripping over Selina's mess of clothing tossed about. She figured Max would be accepting of her sneakers since it was his doctor that recommended no heels, but she still didn't feel like this was a proper way of going to a meeting.

Max had easily dodged every person he could, finally retreating to his office; he disposed of his disguise temporarily for his meeting with Grace. He really would have rather been making plans, but this interesting arrangement of using Grace against Selina had seemed to become far more entertaining. His gaze flickered around the room almost wearily. He had been there before unseen and had been advising Max about the problem with Selina Kyle's noisy like qualities, he had stated her mysterious return from death and wanted his advice on what to do next.

Neither of them knew at the time that she was Catwoman and would be out for him, or how the plan would foul up so badly. The almost gray conference room was stark in contrast to his choice of clothing that morning, the granite tables; black leather chairs, and carpet seeming to mock him in the grim wintry light from the large windows. He brushed invisible lint from his black suit, discarding his coat, gloves, scarf and hat aside. He felt out of place, his tie suddenly seemed to be choking him and he promptly adjusted it.

His thoughts again began to whirl within the mists of that night, familiar scenes, actions and voices playing in his thoughts again haunting him. _"That man's voice…his identity was…"_ he closed his eyes trying his hardest to remember, but the thick cloud of madness within his mind seemed to refuse to crack. He was blocked from those memories until necessary, and sadly it appeared this knowledge was yet to be a necessity for him at the moment.

_Knock, Knock_

"Yes." His voice sounded strained, but otherwise he felt a bit at ease within the office alone from prying eyes and employees.

He had locked the door on purpose to deter his secretary from coming into the office and discovering his identity, he couldn't count on all of the Gotham residence to be as naïve as Grace was about his true identity.

"Ms. Sable to see you sir." Come the almost dry reply, before he walked to the door and waited for the Secretary's typical response. "He will see you now Ms. Sable."

He listened hearing Grace mutter something rather unpleasant about his secretary, before she hesitantly knocked on the gray office doors. "Max?"

He allowed her entrance into the office, carefully shutting the locked door behind them. She was all business compared to his first meeting. Her hair us up tight and a firm look of determination was within her soft green gaze. Clearly she was perturbed that morning about something, which he would guess was her cousin.

"Hello again Gracie." She winced turning a dark look in his direction, before composing herself. "Let's see what hidden talents you have and hear if your ideas are suited for the job?" if she wasn't true to herself and determined to get this job, her pride would have made her flip him off and leave immediately.

She took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Morning Max…what would you like to look at first?" she felt those eerie blue eyes focus on her briefly, before a strange almost leering smile crossed his lips and he walked around to one of the conference chairs.

"Whatever you suggest for a masquerade theme…preferably dark themed." This was a strange order for a festive occasion, but she hadn't expected him to be completely predictable either.

She still felt fearful of him, but the strange vibe he gave off was more appealing than the fear. _"I hate Selina."_ She did not like the fact Selina may have been right, he wasn't exactly unattractive, but she would not deter from her goal.

"Strange request…but I think I can throw out some ideas." She considered her knowledge of Gotham and the current darkness lurking in the news recently. She never bothered to watch the television, but had listened to the droning of the reporter in the background, her interest in particular belonged to the new mysterious Ringmaster. "Perhaps a dark circus theme?" she suggested seeing his brow quirk eyes half lidded in concentration. "Victorian style dark circus…maybe have a few performers entertain the residence of Gotham's rich and well off, while serving them ideas to invest in your company?" she could feel his eyes on her and it made her feel strange.


	5. Chapter 5: Discussions & Catches

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._  
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A/N: I adore all my readers and thank you so much for fav-ing, and all your support. I have come to realize that I have a case of writers block. I've figured out what may be responsible for this and hope you will all understand and not be too upset with me. First thing is that real life has become overwhelming and I can't focus on my writing, I've also realized that I am not writing just to get something up and what I'm currently writing is awful. I need to take a break after posting my recent chapters for each story. I need to take some time to sort life, I will pick up a pen again, but right now if I want to accomplish anything I need to set things aside and try to find my inspiration again. Thank you for your patience and being wonderful people, I shall return to things soon-ish._

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**Chapter 4: Discussions & Catches**

"_Silly girl, you don't know what you suggest."_ He rationalized that the idea would work in his favor, his own mind working out more interesting ideas about a certain Catwoman that would most likely be present with her current boy toy. It would work in the support of his plan and he would definitely draw the needed attention. _"What would Selina do when the Ringmaster runs off with her cousin? Too many people to show those pretty claws to."_ She caught the calculating look in those green eyes again and wondered if her suggestion hadn't settled well with him.

"I'm listening…what other ideas for this Victorian dark circus theme do you have?" he crossed his fingers leaning on them, his eyes focused on her strangely flushed face.

Grace had caught herself staring at him, staring at his ebony suit that made him almost appear dangerous in way, blood red stripes barely noticeable in the material. _"Damn Selina…damn you cousin dear."_ She focused again on her future boss, determined to remain in the mentality of her work.

"Hire some performers dressed in Victorian garb, only go with a darker theme. Rich blood reds, emerald greens, sapphires, very dark colors lingering close to black. Shock the crowd by making your costume a little flashier perhaps? Possibly making you into the ringmaster of the circus, since you are host of the party." She noticed his eyes seemed to take on a life of their own; he seemed excited by her ideas. _"He still seems off...probably won't even be seen much during his party."_ She couldn't help the feeling that seemed to creep up on her.

She saw Max Kersh as a secluded individual, preferring to stay out of the public eye, reserved to dwell in shadows. Even if it did sound cliché, she got this whole phantom vibe from him; clearly he had spent a great deal of time alone, he always seemed cold, calculative, manipulative, haunted, and conceited. Almost like he mocked the world he lived in, the only time she seen any amusement was when he seemed to edge her into a match of wits, which she refused to comply to if she could help it.

Max liked where she was going, this would fit to his ideas very well. It was strange that she seemed so sure of herself and that her ideas would work so well with his. Maybe his nagging feelings that seemed to push through unwanted barriers weren't a bad thing, manipulating was his easiest way of getting what he wanted. Grace wouldn't take much to manipulate into his favor. _"This may not be what I wanted originally, but it will help me learn more and get closer to my goal."_ Usually this sort of idea would make him loathe himself, but she was oddly entertaining and that made it a bit easier on his pride and ego.

"I like those ideas…if you would not mind; maybe we could work on them together? You can share this office with me." She did actually mind the sharing office thing, she minded dealing with him on such a close basis, but apparently this was now her job.

"_I mind a whole lot…but cant' argue."_ She met those strangely amused eyes and couldn't shake the feeling he knew exactly what was going through her head. "No problem Max…just please stop with the whole Gracie?" she scowled at the smile that crossed his lips; clearly he wasn't letting up on her even if she worked for him.

"Now what did I state yesterday Gracie?" she grimaced miserably, why did she have to find a job working with him of all people? "I have some things to do, excuse me for a bit." Before she could say more he disappeared into a small side office out of her view and she heard another door announcing she was more likely on her own.

Irritably she mocked him, before turning her attention to her portfolio. She pulled out her design sheets and started to work on a basic idea for decorations, themes, and designs. She had the feeling she would also be designing his costume, but decided to hold off on that in case she was being to presumptuous. _"How can I like him at all?"_ her thoughts were pulling her attention from what she needed to focus on. She proceeded to sketch at invitation designs, ignoring the fact that her mind wouldn't focus on the task at hand.

Max Kersh was more of a puzzle than anyone would understand, even she herself found him confounding. He was tolerable one minute and so conceited the next she wanted to pulverize him. Somehow though he always managed to get back on her good side, she got the feeling he enjoyed messing around with her testing just how far he could push her. She didn't like this idea at all and stopped in her work contemplating this concept. She listed off traits in her head she despised within Max Kersh, which were conceited, arrogance, calculative stares, a strange almost manipulative side, and many more. None of her opinions were nice so why did she not mind him?

"Why does Selina always have to be right?" she grimaced when it slipped aloud instead of remaining in her head, that made it all the more real.

Shaking her head in a defeated sort of way she continued with her work. She would deal with things one at a time, she was overwhelmed with enough problems at this point and this wasn't helping. She had learned a long time ago she always over analyzed things, it had been one of her greatest faults and now she was so deep in scrutinizing her life she felt like she was drowning. Grace had to face facts and fast before she did get into a mess, first thing she admitted to herself no matter how reluctantly was she did like Max, no matter the strange quirks or oddness, she did like him.

She also admitted she was disgusted with how Selina's changes had made their relationship fall apart, she was happy Selina had someone, but it didn't mean she was invisible. The only other good thing in this whole mess was she liked Alfred and Bruce, they were ok. Angrily she realized she was hurt by Selina, she was currently not only loathing herself for obvious things that seemed prominent in her life, but she disliked her cousin. She would rather not see her for a while and started to contemplate ideas of staying somewhere else in Gotham.

Max was hidden within his side office, he had intended on letting her think she was alone so he could better observe her weaknesses. Her focus on her cousin again made him curious with her exclamation, what had Selina been right about? Grace seemed so lost in her own mind he had to wonder if she even knew she was still hard at work, her hand easily sketching along without her input. He began to wonder if Grace herself wasn't a little barmy herself due to her actions and constant talking to herself. He had noticed this trait at the cemetery the day he met her, but the more he observed her the more he saw that it was common for her to talk aloud to herself, gesture randomly and seem almost lost within her own mind.

Perhaps if he could get within her madness somehow he could understand what drove the woman, what could make her truly hate Selina. His own insanity was more than enough to keep track of, but for some reason he got the notion learning where hers stemmed from would help him remember the other person that had been involved in Michael's death. That tidbit just out of his reach, just maybe she could help him crack his own walls and reveal that lost threat.

"_Make her learn to care."_ He seemed startled out of his own thoughts, where did that come from? That was the last thing he needed, or wanted to do. Caring was not something Max did, only his brother was something to care about; he was the one to help keep the insanity at bay. Michael was his grasp on reality, with it gone he seemed to be drifting farther into the mists and darkness of his own mind, own delusions. _"Learn to care and then make her care."_ His eyes focused sharply on the office he had retreated to.

The crème walls, light wood desk piled with various folders that had already been put to his attention and the charcoal carpet giving under his feet, this room had been a bit of a comfort for him during his necessary stays at the office. The room was now slowly swallowing him, why did these thoughts keep making themselves known, sharply stabbing into his concentration for revenge?

"_When someone cares it is harder for them to let go. It is easier for them to hate."_ Instead of the thought scaring him like the others, they slowly began to make sense. Hate would equal to revenge, but love could also be played into that aspect. It just would depend on how far one was willing to go to hate for that love. In his twisted mind it made perfect sense, so much though that it was no longer alarming.

Max's curiosity about these ideas were slowly weaving an intricate and complicated plan into his head, it wouldn't be simple but it may work if he was willing to allow his barriers down. If he was willing to do this for himself was the main question, Michael was part of it but did his own needs matter. _"You need sanity…she seems to keep you level."_ Another disturbing thought about Grace Sable to add to the list.

Grace could have sworn she was being watched, but instead of letting her paranoia get the better of her she pushed it aside. Max was not in the room so there was no reason to worry.

"I had a thought Gracie." She let out a stifled yelp nearly scattering her already finished designs to the gray carpet below.

She wondered when Max had re-entered the room. "Don't scare me like that Max." she finally gathered her wits, or what was left of them and met those green eyes almost twinkling with amusement. "What kind of thought exactly?" she was wary, there was something different about the way he was acting and she wasn't so sure she would like the outcome of this change. _"I wonder if that thought hurt?"_ she stifled her giggle at the imagery the idea provided.

He easily lowered his hands to the table she was working at his brow quirked at the small smile lingering on her lips. "I need someone to be my escort at the masquerade…" he paused seeing her face considerably pale, before the slightest hints of a blush appeared around her cheeks. "…Since you will be the creative genius behind the event, would you care to be that escort?" the words felt foreign to him, he had never in his life asked any woman out, his brother had always been the one to deal with them.

Max much preferred solace, what dates he had managed made him considerably unhappy and he usually restrained an urge to literally strangle them in one form or another. _"Good…slowly show a better side, allow her to help that madness remain within."_ He felt like someone was coaching him, was his mind really that far gone after all this short time after his brother's demise?

Grace felt her tongue roll up within her mouth was he asking her out or was this just business. She was so hoping for the latter, she did not want Selina to be right, she didn't want romantic thoughts about Max Kersh, especially now.

"Is this a joke?" not what she had intended, but due to recent events it seemed feasible.

He had expected something a little less blunt, but he knew she wouldn't be completely sure at first. "Gracie…do I look amused?" his eyes were almost glowing with an eerie sort of dare, she studied him carefully getting the impression 'no' would not be in her best interest. "One thing you should come to expect…I do not joke." Again that weird warning tone had seeped into his voice; she felt the strangest urge to run.

"So I noticed…you hardly ever smile." That was not supposed to leave her mouth, now he would know she had been watching him carefully. "I guess I would like to be your escort…but what is the catch this time?" he so far had not given her reason to doubt his intentions, but she was sure Max was not someone to completely trust.

"_Why does she scrutinize me so?"_ another puzzle provided by the woman before him. "There isn't a catch…but it would be pleasant if you would design the costumes you plan to put you and me into. It would be considerably strange for the host and his companion to look contrastingly different…you do agree?" she nodded giving him a look that stated 'I'm not stupid' which got an amused sort of smile on his face.

"I don't think I like you much Max." She returned her attention back to her work; she only had to deal with him for three more hours.

"You may learn to in time Gracie." He noticed with delight her nearly snap her pencil before he again retreated to his office.

Selina had surrendered in her research, Bruce hadn't provided anymore helpful information and she was rather tired with the day's events. Inside her apartment she could hear Grace practically snarling or close to it and wondered what had gotten her cousin so upset. Wise to what would happen if she prodded to close to the issue she opened the apartment door and carefully put her keys on the side table, before walking into the main part of her home.


	6. Chapter 6: Frustrations

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

A/N: My other stories are on hold for now except "Chocolate Studies" a CATCF one I've been working on. I dug a whole and am still trying to find a way out of what I did. I also have some others in the works, so keep a look out for that. Thank you all for being so patient with my recent computer crisis's and everything else that has gone wonky. I appreciate you sticking with me.

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Chapter 6: Frustrations**

Grace had just finished scrubbing the kitchen from what appeared floor to ceiling and was stirring what seemed to be dinner on the stove. She batted away a few cats that had snuck in through the window, continuing to rant away.

"Gracie?" She dodged a spoon that was inches away from her nose, a white cheese sauce nearly dripping to the floor before Grace returned it to the pot.

"I hate that so much…especially now." She hissed between clenched teeth seeing Selina's blue gaze widen, her hand freezing within her tangled curls. "Max Kersh is an unbelievable conceited, irritating, pompous, pigheaded, stubborn, ego driven…" Grace realized in that moment he purposely thrived to get reactions from her. "I feel like I'm back in second grade when boys would drive you nuts to indicate they reciprocated feelings." She turned back to dinner, before hearing Selina step beside her with an inquisitive look on her face.

Selina listened carefully to the story of Grace's first day on the job, she couldn't resist a knowing almost half smile seeing Grace glare at her before putting the pasta on plates. She could see her cousin against her wishes was developing feelings for Max Kersh, it still bothered her but what could she honestly do? Selina knew she couldn't tell Grace of the darkness within herself, or the truth of what happened so many days ago, almost a lifetime now that she truly focused on it.

"Grace…" she paused seeing the way she had said her name caught her immediate attention, chewing stopping. "…Why do you deny these possible feelings for someone so determinedly?" she gathered her food and followed Grace's retreat to the couch within the living room.

Grace didn't like that probing stare, or Selina's sudden interest in her life. Selina had been so cold and distant, now she acted like nothing had happened and there was no friction between either of them. It was another reason for her to resent Selina, another reason to wonder why she was even staying with her cousin. The only thing that even got her interest was her current boss, and her feelings for the man.

"Because…I didn't come to Gotham for that." It was as close to admitting anything to Selina she wanted to.

Selina met her cousins' strangely distant green eyes and sighed. She realized she had already created a barrier and neither of them would break it down. "I think it is because you are afraid of getting hurt." She finished her dinner and turned her attention to the news on the television.

Grace decided to leave; she didn't need Selina's input or her advice for that matter. She wasn't afraid of getting hurt by Max, she was afraid of loosing herself completely around Max. _"I'm afraid of what I can have with Max…or am I just afraid of him? I think I'm afraid he already has me."_ She decided bed was the best cure for all her unanswered tiring questions, she had work to do and didn't need this.

He was again planning within the tunnels of Gotham City Zoo, keeping his two lives apart was becoming increasingly complicated when he had to play the part of business tycoon and Ringmaster. The deadly circus had succeeded in three more heists with his careful planning and none of them had encountered either Batman or Catwoman, clearly he was driving the city into a mess of disarray. The news wouldn't cease on his triumphs, he knew that eventually it would drive both his enemies into the open.

"Sir?" Max glanced up seeing the poodle woman cautiously lingering within his space, dark eyes working on his intent expression. "Do you care for the woman?" how foreword of her, he wondered briefly if she had a death wish.

Instead of replying he allowed an almost dangerous smile to charm his lips, those cold eyes said everything and she quickly scurried away back to the others working on his latest feat of interrupting his own masquerade ball. _"I don't care for the woman."_ Again he felt the darkness consuming him, again coaching his actions and felt his sanity again slipping away. _"You need to learn to…the madness is swallowing us whole."_ His gaze lingered on the pool of sewer water before him, haunted ideas whirling within his gloomy mind. _"Us? I need to learn to care? Since when?"_ more questions seemed to form over those questions and no answer made themselves present.

"The plan is completed to your requests Ringmaster." Max found himself glancing down at his leather gloved hands, gently tracing the black mask concealing his identity; slowly he focused on the organ grinder almost hesitantly.

"_Ringmaster."_ It had a definite quality he liked, but he wasn't so sure he cared for the responsibility of the deadly circus any longer. For some reason his patience with the people had been wearing thin, he didn't like working in groups and had preferred to be alone. He was now without a choice, he no longer had Michael or the aspects of a once glorious plan.

"Good…we just have to wait to the appointed date." He turned away from the prying dark eyes following his every preoccupied gesture. "Do not harm the girl." His voice was laced with poison, if any of them did harm her he would not hesitate to kill them.

Grace was more than reluctant to get up that morning, even her dreams hadn't given her any peace. Flashes of the Ringmaster threat of Gotham had haunted them, along with images of whimsy and her actions with a pair of green eyes. Max had finally gotten within her mind and unfortunately she was allowing herself to care. Again she disliked Selina and her advice, she had all but stated Grace was afraid to live. To have a life outside of her once pleasant hometown in the country, afraid to take on Gotham and it's nightlife.

She knew Selina was already gone; she had politely left an alarm to buzz in an irritating fashion forcing Grace to wake unpleasantly and fall on the floor due to the blankets tangled around her. Sometimes she had to wonder if her name was some sick joke her mother had chosen for her, even if she didn't know her clumsy tendencies then she sure would admit it was a bad choice now.

Grace had never been graceful by any means and she had long ago come to terms with it, but she was rather tired of each morning in Selina's life giving her a new bruise to add to her growing collection. She again made a dash for the bathroom deciding a quick breakfast before facing the conceited man defined as her boss and where her affections seemed to be placed.

"I can't handle that insufferable man this morning." She grumbled halfway through pulling her hair back with a black headband and sliding on her dark wine red sweater, she ignored the flowing skirt that brushed around her ankles, before finding her black heels. "I don't need any more bruises." She opted for her flat black shoes, before heading out and down to the big city below.

She winced when her coat was nearly blown off of her, it was bitterly cold that morning and the snow threatening around her wasn't helping. Her mood had just gone further down hill, why did it always have to be so gloomy in the morning? The buildings stood mocking her with their dark looming glory, street vendors yelling their wares for breakfast, and other people just being loud. The traffic was atrocious and she swore if she heard one more car horn go off she would scream. This was exactly why she hated cities, she liked the quiet and solace from them.

Halfway to the Shreck building she stopped near a small café and decided it might be nice to have a short break from the cold and some food. She was a half hour early and didn't want to deal with Max any longer than she had to. The café was much like the first one she had stayed with more of an aqua color instead the red decor, she started to wonder if all café's in Gotham decided to be alike on purpose.

She ordered some coffee and a banana muffin before turning her attention to her place of work, once she did she had the sudden wish she hadn't done so. Max was just coming to the building and for some reason seemed to sense her presence, those green eyes settled on her almost immediately and it made her wince.

"Peachy." She muttered in an unpleasant way, it seemed the world was out to punish her again.

"_Gracie."_ Max caught her expression and smirked, clearly she was in one of those confrontational moods that would amuse him. He easily made his way across the street and inside the café. He without difficulty navigated his way through the semi busy establishment before finding her glaring accusingly at him.

"Morning Gracie…why so unpleasant?" she wrinkled her nose watching him slip into the chair across from her, those green eyes again making her uncomfortable.

"_You showed up…I needed a break."_ She knew that wasn't the best response, but again had the feeling he already guessed her opinion. "Good morning Max." she didn't offer a response to the latter of his questions.

She didn't take his offer to banter that morning; clearly she was off in her own world somewhere again. "How are your designs coming along?" she allowed her attention to focus on his strangely civil nature, what could he possibly be up to so early in the morning?

In truth she had nearly completed most of the designs, a lot of it had been because she couldn't sleep well and Selina had thoroughly vexed her beyond reason. She was still working on their costumes though, but for some reason she was at a stand still on them. For one she wasn't sure what Max liked in styles, especially gothic Victorian and she wasn't entirely sure she could pull off the whole flare he seemed to have without realizing it. She had never had so much trouble with a design in her life and that had also made her morning meeting with him irritating.

"I'm stuck on your costume, which means I can't even start m y own." She wondered why she had bluntly shared that information but decided it was a bit late to worry now. "I can't seem to…" she stopped, there was no way she would admit he had an attractive flamboyant quality, a flare that she wanted to somehow conform into her design. "…figure it out." _"Figure you out actually."_ Again she noticed his attention seemed between focusing on the project and in some sort of hidden world outside her vision.

Max knew it was time to start his progress on the thoughts that had been plaguing him, but he was more or less curious if it would be a bit much for her to handle. Grace seemed like the type to panic easily from what little he did know about her.

"What sort of trouble are you having Gracie?" she offered a scowl at his amused tone and the nickname she wished would be wiped out of everyone's vocabulary. "I didn't think you the type to find me that difficult to understand." He noticed a subtle change in her expression; clearly he had caught her interest with his change in nature.

"_Is he serious? Did I just detect that he flirted with me?"_ She didn't need that answered, no way was she about to compromise her job by his actions, but secretly she admitted she didn't despise the idea. "Correction…you are impossible to understand Max. You are a walking puzzle all on your own. I need to know what sort of flare you prefer for the costume…maybe colors?" she focused quickly on business again to derail any further attempts in the romantic direction this seemed to be headed.

His lip curled into a half smile, eyes seeming to spark to life. "Do you like puzzles Gracie?" this was actually not quite as hard as he had thought, for some reason he didn't really loathe her as a person or dealing with her either.

"_Damn Selina straight to __hell__."_ Not only had she tried to avoid the obvious, but now it seemed he had sensed her less violent feelings toward him and was reciprocating them. "Depends on the puzzle…back to costumes, colors, flare, showy or not?" that expression of his was almost daring her to try to go back to business now and she didn't like it one bit.

"I'm not the showy type." He hated the idea of standing out, especially if his plan was to follow through without a hitch. "I like dark…different." He wasn't sure what she wanted to know and was starting to doubt his coy actions, was he assuming too much into her strange nervous behavior around him?

"Why does that not surprise me?" she shook her head a small smile briefly gracing her lips. "Dark and not showy…that actually makes the design easier. You don't plan on leaving me alone in front of all those people I hope? I really don't like large scale events." In truth she didn't like being under a watchful gaze, it had always made her self conscious.

He wasn't assuming, she was just trying skillfully to avoid his flirtatious attempts. "I know the feeling…but in most cases…" he paused with a slight sigh feeling rather annoyed with the public eye again. "…the host is always somewhere in the crowd, even if they would rather not be." He noticed her truly smile at this and found himself strangely frustrated with this. "What's so funny Gracie?"


	7. Chapter 7: Falling into Mayhem

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

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Chapter 7: Falling into Mayhem**

"The fact that you…" she paused giving him a frustrated glare, before giving into her lecture instead. "…don't like publicity. How you came to own a company life is beyond me." She realized that she should be in the office now doing designs. "I know the boss can be late, but I can't be…

"You're with the boss…that entitles you to a late pass." He wasn't letting her escape that easily, which again made her contemplate his intentions. "Maybe a visit to a history collection will inspire you. I'm not giving you a choice in case you're thinking of a way out of spending the day with me." She felt the argument swallowed, she got a feeling she wasn't going to like what Max Kersh was up to.

To Grace's surprise for the next few weeks before the big event she was spending time with Max and not loathing it. Most of it revolved around Victorian history, designs and ideas for the masquerade that would be coming up shortly. He had even found circus entertainers easily enough for the show, she was sure that she may have recognized them but they stayed far away from her prying gaze.

She found Max rather comforting, his haunted like attentions and darker amusements appealing to her sense of adventure. She had been growing more distant with Selina's constant mission to stay focused on work and her own life, instead of trying to salvage what relationship Grace hoped they still had. Somehow among her adventures with Max she had confided how she had began to loathe Selina and how her cousin only seemed interested in events pertaining to what Grace and he did during their outings.

Not long the outings didn't seem so business like and soon shows, dinners, even amusing discussions within his sitting room had began to seep past her boundaries. Grace was no longer denying she had some feelings for Max, but she was still unsure of what those feelings would mean. Did he have her within his own mysterious design, or had she somehow snagged him up in her own intricate web. This continued question always seemed to trouble her.

"Ringmaster…everything is ready for the masquerade event. Grace declined the invite with her cousin like you stated she would and is waiting outside in the car for you." Max glanced up at the organ grinder with a half grimace, he was not looking forward to playing host until his plan came about into play. "She seemed to design things quite well, almost like she was familiar with your style?" instead of focusing on what he did not like, Max glanced at his reflection in the mirror near the door.

A solid black suite with silver stripes appealed to him, the matching silver trim along his top hat and silver trim at the bottom edge of his cape gave him the bit of flare, which Grace had pointed out he had little knowledge over. The silver bowtie to match had been changed due to the fact Grace decided it was far too showy and had been replaced with a black one. He had insisted she leave to the car and he would catch up, but it had been nearly ten minutes since that.

"Don't assume things…it isn't benefiting to your health." He warned not wanting to reveal his own internal thoughts; something had seemed to slip through his barriers of madness and into his reality. He did not like this at all.

Grace adjusted her Victorian style gown again, feeling like the silver lacey trim around the bottom was a bit much, but she knew a solid black would not suite the event. In all honesty she preferred the black, but the silver was needed to give Max the flair needed for his costume.

She glanced up when Max slid into the car, seeing his eyes had dulled to an almost gray green and his complexion had paled slightly. "Max?" she felt a bit concerned, in the few weeks they had been around each other she had learned to care, she even found Gracie not quite annoying when he used it.

"I don't feel so good Gracie." He sounded very uncharacteristic from the conceited man she was so used to. "Love your work, but not the idea of a crowded entry way inside Shreck Enterprises main entrance." A whisper of a smile seemed to flicker before fading behind another ashen look.

"Vincent drive…I will attend to Max." the organ grinder had been appointed a name while under the guise of butler/driver for Max in his guise as business tycoon, but did not appreciate how easily she brushed him off. "Thank you for getting him here." His annoyance faded with her appreciation for his help with the Ringmaster, maybe this girl wasn't a danger if things would work in the Ringmasters favor.

Once the door had shut and the car started to move she slid forward gently clasping one of his black gloved hands, his cool green gaze seemed to focus on her grasp quickly. It was the first time she had offered any sort of contact that seemed remotely affectionate, at least that he had noticed. She noticed his expression seem to change to one of slight confusion before meeting her soft green eyes and feeling a slight smile. _"She's learning to care…you're doing well."_ Strangely though he had a feeling he was doing well because he was starting to care for the girl.

Grace felt heat in her face but refused to draw back into herself, he had become a sort of rock for her sanity and she wanted to try and repay that. She knew she had fallen for him against all her wishes, determination, and ideas, but it was hard for her not to. For some reason he had this wicked sort of hold on her heart and she was willing to allow him to have it completely.

"I told you Gracie…I said you would learn to like me." He smirked seeing her quirk her brow at his usual arrogance returning full throttle.

"Don't remind me." She really didn't need reminding, she had been kicking herself for this fact for days now.

He could detect a hint of underlying annoyance. "Your cousin doesn't like that does she?" Grace hadn't really wanted to bring up Selina, especially in this aspect.

Selina hadn't said she disliked Max, but Grace knew she didn't find the idea pleasant. Clearly Selina had her own issues and for some reason Grace wasn't allowed to be happy with her old boss's cousin.

"Honestly I don't think Selina likes herself anymore. She's been getting more and more distant with the recent Ringmaster events in the city. I haven't even seen Bruce hardly at all lately, except for the occasional file pick up or when we've had dinner with him. The only person between them that seems to like my presence is Alfred…I think he's noticed the distance between Selina and I. He's also encouraged me in…" she stopped realizing she had almost said something about her feelings toward him. "…other aspects of my life." It was safe, but she got the feeling he again had already read her mind, an increasingly discomforting notion.

Max considered what he knew of the butler Alfred, Grace had seemed strangely fond of the older man. He had heard a few things from her about how he actually seemed more like a fatherly figure than servant to Bruce Wayne. He could tell she took comfort in the older gentlemen and that she truly appreciated his words of kindness. _"She lost someone close to her similar to this Alfred?"_ it was a notion he had toyed with before, now it seemed more likely a fact than question.

"You look up to Alfred?" the masquerade seemed a distant issue now that they were talking in a familiar fashion, her hands had yet to release his.

Grace considered what she knew of Max and how she had spent more time around Alfred. He understood her feelings toward Selina without question and Max truly seemed concerned, for the first time since really getting to know the man before her she felt safe. Max Kersh was no longer that strange dark feeling hanging over her subconscious; he was someone she knew would not harm her.

She met those penetrating cool green eyes and felt a small smile cross her lips. "He reminds me of a grandfather I had long ago. He helped me sort through some complicated things, which Selina so kindly has put aside for her own personal life. I really seem to be resenting her." She glanced down feeling his hands in turn close around hers. _"The only good things about Gotham are you and Alfred."_ She for once felt no heat come into her face, but it did reside within her stomach before the car started slowing.

Max glanced up realizing they were just outside the Shreck Building and again felt his stomach fall, another ashen look taking over his features. "I don't want to deal with this." His voice was soft and distant, but she understood exactly how he felt.

Bruce and Selina glanced down from the entrance of Shreck Enterprises; neither of them had satisfied their issues with the cousin since they research began. Batman and Catwoman had rarely had time to relax within the chaos the Ringmaster had caused within Gotham City, and because of this very few of the criminal events had been stopped. The people weren't loosing faith entirely in Batman, but Bruce had sensed the distance and concerns with the sudden rush of people scrambling to the safety of their homes. He felt bitter and having to be at this social gathering wasn't helping those feelings, he wanted to find the menace of Gotham and return the city to its former glory.

Selina had her own problems, not only had her nightlife and second skin caused her issues with her love life and public life, her cousin had come to be extremely distant. She knew Grace had come to loathe her and she knew she deserved the scorn. It still hurt her to know that she couldn't explain herself to Grace; it nearly destroyed her keeping Catwoman within herself and away from one of the few people that had always understood her. She had also succeeded in driving Grace into the arms of her boss, even if Grace denied feelings or caring, Selina knew she was falling and happy.

The only solace Selina had was Grace was truly happy, Max had seemed to make her smile more and hide those resentful feelings she had caused within her cousin. She had given up on her determined search to make Max Kersh into Max Shreck. Bruce had found nothing to even remotely make him seem illegal, the man had an impeccable record, and it appeared perfect. Selina considered it seemed too perfect, but if she was caught prying into Grace's life anymore than she already had that would just estrange her cousin completely.

"She's arrived with Mr. Kersh." Bruce's soft voice brought her from her darker thoughts, her gaze finally leveling with the limo that was about to be bombarded by press.

"She hates attention like that…she also mentioned Mr. Kersh isn't fond of it either." She stated absently, knowing by instinct that Bruce's brow was quirked in surprise. "She still hates me." His arm wrapped around her in comfort, he knew what she was going through because Selina had learned to confide in him since their darkened day and shared secret.

Grace slowly exited the car feeling Max's hand with hers and realized he was hesitating within the car. Instead of feeling like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car, which would seem feasible with all the press crowding around her, she gently tugged on his hand somehow drawing him from the car.

Max had already put his silver mask in place to hide his true identity from those that knew him, he also had easily kept his head lowered to avoid pictures that may be analyzed by anyone interested in his past. Grace's arm wrapped within his, which strangely comforted him enough among the flashing lights and excited noise. Carefully they both made their way up the sidewalk and escaped into the Shreck building.

Once inside away from the reporter chaos outside both let out small breaths of relief, all that lay within the main entrance now was easily understood business people, politicians and other rich higher to do society. The press was very limited due to his discomfort and security had been tightened to the point where even the people invited felt uneasy with the masquerade party. Once their host had graced them with his presence the unpleasantness seemed to fade and everyone started to mingle about, while the music played quietly in the background.

Grace was surrounded by a pleasant feeling seeing worlds of dark colors traveling among the Victorian accented silver colored room. The rich deep colors flowed smoothly among the costumed people, like an ocean of dark gothic melodies. The entertainers were doing various acts among the room; she noticed the flame swallowing man had a large group, along with the tumblers, jugglers, and high-wire group above the room. Everything was just as Max had wanted, a gothic style Victorian circus with masks covering the identities of the world and keeping the safety of comfort in the shadows.

She glanced up seeing Max had stopped glancing in the direction of two approaching individuals. Grace knew that it was Selina and Bruce; she had seen Selina's costume before leaving to find Max. Selina wore a dark green velvet style and Bruce a straight black ensemble. Bruce's mask was that of a sad clown, while Selina had opted for a black mask with whiskers and cat ears. _"I think she has become a lonely cat lady with a boyfriend equally lonely."_ She brushed aside her sour thoughts knowing that Selina was coming over to greet them, her cousin had been far too nosey about Max in her opinion and it had driven her to her wits end.

"Gracie." Selina lifted her mask taking notice that Max didn't offer the same courtesy, but she had come to learn he wasn't much for people. "You look wonderful." She smiled seeing her cousins green gaze soften slightly at the compliment, the black mask with silver stars seemed to set off her somewhat fair complexion against her dark outfit. "Hello Mr. Kersh…I'm Selina Kyle and this is Bruce Wayne. It's nice to finally meet you." She offered a small smile deciding not to push things too much; Grace was already angry with her, or at least upset.

Max glanced between the cousins sensing the tension and resisted the urge to smile; things were going very well in his favor. "Nice to meet you both…Grace has told me pleasant things about you." Grace allowed her gaze to settle on Max briefly seeing something within his expression that told her he clearly wasn't as happy as his voice implied, he truly did care for her feelings and what was happening to her.

"_I do care for Max…I don't want to let him go either."_ The revelation wasn't new to her, but the fact that he had become strangely soft toward her made it much easier for her to express those feelings. Selina may have hurt her, but he wasn't going to make things worse for either of them. Clearly he wasn't fond of those that hurt her, but he would be kind for her sake. Another comfort that he offered which in turn made her feelings grow more for him and a new feeling of respect to warm her heart.

Max noticed something in Grace's eyes that made him very curious, they appeared almost warm. "I hope you enjoy the party." Sensing he needed to talk with Grace somewhere away from the pair of prying gazes, he gently led her through the crowd finding himself near the stage and away from most hearing ranges. "Are you alright Gracie?" he was surprised she had heard him over the orchestra, but she nodded in response.

She smiled he had that confusion on his face again, the same look in the car before he realized she had finally warmed up to him. "Max…you look troubled." She knew she sounded slightly teasing and could see his brow quirk in an inquisitive way; clearly she had again stumped him. "What is that?" his attention quickly turned to the excited crowd.

He knew it was his cue to go to the office and change into his guise of Ringmaster, but he couldn't allow himself to do so without finding out what she had wanted to say. He had softened toward her much more than he had intended, but he wasn't about to let his plan fall through that easily. _"I will deal with this later…the Ringmaster will have two people tonight."_ Changing around his plan a bit, he gently slid his arm from her grasp.

"I have to run up to the office for a minute…I will be back Gracie, the host can't hide from his party." He grimaced at the idea, before seeing her smile hesitantly watching his exit.

Grace hated to let him go before she could tell him she thought she might 'love' him, but she knew that he had a lot to deal with for the moment. She could tell him after the masquerade and chaos was over. Her attention returned easily to the several performers gathering within the room, she started to grow concerned though seeing the exits were being blocked and they appeared to be withdrawing concealed weapons. Selina and Bruce were among the crowd slowly gathering in fear and she realized then and there this was not a show, the performers were now being pointed to and the voices of worry finally reached her ears. _"The Deadly Circus!"_ the revelation brought her heart to a sudden standstill, before she felt a slow panic creep into her spine.

She glanced around seeing no one had spotted her at the moment, she also took notice that several of the guest had been restrained including Selina and Bruce. _"Max!"_ her concern for him entered her thoughts, her cousin and boyfriend were safe but the man she had grown to care about was somewhere in his office without knowing what was happening.

She slipped further into the shadows concern growing for herself as well as others. She had to get to his office and warn him. Perhaps together they could get help somehow, she wasn't thinking clearly at the moment but she knew there was a great amount of danger.

His gaze lingered on the frightened group around him, he had returned from the office as planned wearing his usual Ringmaster guise, the dark pinstripes blending well and hiding him within the shadows. His green gaze lingered intently where he had left Grace, he felt a smirk slip across his lips. Her fiery nature had already settled and she was slowly making her way to escape, he could see she intended to find him in the office. _"The Ringmaster has found his target."_ He considered what she had been trying to say earlier and remembered the changes to his plan, before slipping down the rest of the stairs and into the shadows himself.

Grace couldn't stand the frightened voices anymore; she turned to charge up the stairs and hoped no one could see her going to find Max. She froze when something moved in the shadows off to her left, feeling her heart thundering in her ears. _"Now what?"_ she hated the fact that she felt like a victim in an old horror movie, especially with the current matters surrounding her. _"This is the Ringmasters group…where is.."_ she again allowed her thoughts to be interrupted feeling a movement near her and turning.

Max considered just grabbing her without a warning, but he didn't want to scare her too badly. Granted it was very un-villain like for him to care but he had developed a soft spot for her, he had come to terms with this. Somehow with her unusual eccentric like qualities she had come to help his grasp on reality remain firmer somehow, but he knew his insanity was far from cured. He had never been able to control the madness within him, Michael was that anchor and somehow he had found that anchor within this strange woman.

Grace felt the color drain from her face seeing the shadow lurking near her, before he stepped into the light. "I see you haven't joined your friends Miss?" he knew better than to use her name, that would give her too many questions and him no answers.

She knew who he was, even though she hadn't watched the news she had heard it. "Grace Sable." She managed softly not fully comprehending the fact that she was standing before the Ringmaster himself just yet. _"I had to wonder where he was."_ She frowned meeting cold green eyes; she felt a familiarity but brushed it aside. "What do you want Ringmaster?" she started to back away, but his hand shot out grasping her wrist far too quickly for her to react right away.

"Revenge." He refrained from saying more; he had to make sure Catwoman knew that he had her cousin.

She glanced down at the gloved hand firmly on her wrist, she could feel the numb panic but for some reason she allowed her anger to take over. She yanked hard against his grasp which he had suspected due to her nature, she was startled when he released his hold and she fell as usual ungracefully against the wall. She could see stars feeling the dull pain in her head settling to a steady thrum, slowly she allowed herself to slide.

Arms firmly lifted her from the wall, wrapping around her and pinning her firmly against a strong body. She struggled a bit but found it useless at the moment. _"I hope Max is safe."_ She frowned feeling herself easily pulled into a spot light which had switched to the Ringmaster, the poodle woman and organ grinder stepping to either side of him.

Selina glanced up frustrated by the fact she was a prisoner, Bruce looked about as thrilled as she felt. Batman and Catwoman were trapped for the moment and would have to deal with this after they got free, if they got free. Her gaze followed the spotlight lingering on a very familiar black clad form. The Ringmaster had made his grand entrance but what she saw in his grasp made her heart nearly stop beating all together. Grace was looking thoroughly miffed and seemed as though she had given into her fate for the moment. _"Gracie!"_ her feline instincts were taking over common sense, but a firm hand locked with hers stopped her from reacting.

Bruce met her furious blue gaze. "If you do he will kill her. I think the Ringmaster knows more than he lets on. He may know your true identity." He barely whispered the last part seeing Selina pale slightly, clearly something was different with this villain and it was even worse for her cousin now.

Grace struggled feeling the arms tighten around her and cursed in frustrated agitation. She did not want this, she wasn't the victim type and her life was just starting to look a little less depressing.

"Hello Gotham." His voice purred arrogantly making her hesitate in her struggling; something was eerily familiar about that tone. "It would seem the party has ended for the moment, such a lovely way for my circus friends to get within your rich world. I am only interested in one person within this room for the moment…She knows who she is and will learn why I want her to pay. For now I leave you without your riches, and hosts." He sensed Grace's struggle cease; he also felt her knees buckle when he stated 'hosts'.

"Please relieve yourself of all your valuables." Called out the organ grinder with a dry tone, they would get what they needed and their new leader would get his revenge.

Grace couldn't stand the pressure, too many things were coming at her at once, they had Max, and her. The people within the room had no choice and for some reason her and the possible man in her life were being used as pawns in some larger picture. She was surprised when her feet no longer touched the floor and glanced down. He had lifted her and appeared to be holding a cable of sorts; her eyes followed the near invisible wire to the high-wire act no longer in use. _"He wouldn't dare…I hate heights."_ Instead of remembering her hatred for the man currently holding her captive, she met his gaze and got the sinking feeling he already knew she didn't like this idea.

Max smirked, he remembered during their conversations how she had mentioned a certain dislike for heights. Selina had convinced her to bungee jump at carnival once and she refused to ever go to heights again, never would she like them. _"Sorry Gracie…this can't be helped."_ He was surprised when she shifted in his grasp and clung to him.

She reserved herself to the fact that she had to go with the Ringmaster just to see Max safe, but she wasn't about to be some limp doll yelling at the top of her lungs either. She sensed him tense briefly before allowing her eyes to shut tight. All she heard was a sound of air moving around her and the sound of their feet hitting solid tile. She allowed one eye open and saw they were on their way out the doors and could see the press had scattered allowing a sinister black car to come onto the sidewalk.

She finally regained some sense planting her feet, she wasn't about to go without a fight. She needed to buy time for someone to save her and Max. "That isn't going to help your friend Grace." She cringed at the cold tone; this man was not someone to anger.

"If you hurt Max I swear you will hate me." She snarled, before feeling herself dragged down the path and shoved into the car.

"_Amusing."_ Max studied Grace carefully beside him. She was curled angrily around herself, soft eyes harder than he had ever seen since meeting her. Her hair had come down in the struggle and was now half hazardously flying about her face. _"She was willing to fight for me…maybe I've already won?"_ a strangely comforting notion, what was she so adamant about telling him before he had to become the Ringmaster to the world? He needed to know and once they were back to the Gotham Zoo he had every intention of finding out.

She could feel his gaze on her; it made her feel strangely comforted. She wasn't afraid of the Ringmaster but couldn't understand why, she did know she was afraid for Max and hoped he wasn't hurt. The car stopped within an older area of town, long abandon and a place of recent events. _"Gotham Zoo?"_ her brow rose with interest, clearly the deadly circus and new boss hadn't seen fit to move his operations from the area. With a strange sinking feeling she knew it would be a while before anyone found them, not even Batman would guess where their headquarters was now. She remembered what Selina had said about the destruction around the area, however vague it had been, it had been another one of those days where she didn't want to talk at all with her cousin.

The car stopped along side the back of the old cages, buildings and trees. The place seemed in ruins, but somehow she got the feeling that wasn't the case entirely. "You aren't what I expected of a hostage Gracie." She snapped her attention from her dark thoughts glaring angrily at the Ringmaster; clearly everyone found that nickname necessary.

"Grace." She hissed her eyes narrowing in warning at the chuckle he offered.


	8. Chapter 8: Shattered Worlds

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

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Chapter 8: Shattered Worlds**

He tilted his head to the side almost considering something. "I like Gracie…Mr. Kersh also seemed fond of asking how you were." Her lips sealed in a fine line; at least she knew Max was safe and concerned for her. "I can see why he's concerned…I think he has a soft spot for you." She slowly uncurled from herself, carefully clasping her hands together.

"Maybe he does…I don't see why it is your concern." She didn't like this conversation; all she really cared about at the moment was Max and her safety.

"_Oh he does and I am concerned to know why your being so unlike yourself."_ His thoughts turned to the new underground hideout when the door opened revealing the burly strong man who easily lifted her out and handed her off to Max. Instead of fighting him she allowed his arms to rest around her, she knew struggling would only get one of them hurt and wasn't about to let it be Max.

"This way." His voice was soft against her ear; she felt her heart thud slightly wondering why everything seemed far less threatening than what it should feel.

She felt his arms loosen and felt him lace one of her arms with his, he was giving her a bit of leeway, but she knew it wasn't permanent; she was a hostage in this situation. "Why did you take Max and I?" halfway within the cool murky tunnels she noticed they weren't exactly deep enough to be directly in the sewers and it wasn't that cold. There was heat and apparently a livable environment for the circus now.

The Ringmaster had provided well for them from what she could see, but that did not mean he wasn't dangerous. She could feel the respectful fear among the people surrounding them; she could also sense an odd coldness toward the entertainers when he entered the main area. _"He doesn't like them."_ She didn't feel threatened by the Ringmaster, but she did know that the deadly circus was threatened. Clearly this man leading them was insane, or at the very least mad.

"They're afraid of you." Her voice was so soft she was hoping he wouldn't notice, but her luck never seemed to change for the better.

He slowly released her arm and turned meeting her still masked gaze. "They have to be…" he paused his gloved fingers gently removing her mask and pulling out her hair clasp allowing it to fall down her waist once again. "…I'm not sane Gracie…far from it actually." He was serious she could hear it within his tone; he was being far too honest to her. "Would you like to know why you and Mr. Kersh are here?" his voice was soothing her frazzled nerves, but she still could feel the danger.

Instead of answering she allowed her gaze to linger on the entertainers, before allowing her gaze to settle on the organ grinder and poodle woman. She knew them as part of Max's staff and started to piece together things. She realized they had been watching Max and her both for some reason, but she wasn't sure why she had been so important. Grace was completely confused, worried and knew that there was more to this than the Ringmaster was telling her, something was just not settling with her.

"Selina Kyle…" her attention turned to the Ringmaster at the mention of her cousin. "…she goes by Catwoman at night." Grace felt the denial build up, but he continued before she could outright mock him. "Max Shreck threw her out of a window…she should have died." He saw her hand lazily go through her hair; she was chewing her lip and looked beset at the moment. "Max was in reality Michael Shreck…he had a twin but no one knew much about this. It was a secret among the brothers. Michael conspired with his brother for a long time, Selina stumbled across private files and with this event the Catwoman was created, Selina Kyle was forever changed. Ever wonder why you hold anger toward your cousin?"

"How do you know how I feel about Selina and why are you telling me this?" Grace didn't want to hear this; he continued telling her of the events leading to his brothers' death. Instead of letting true justice take over Selina had killed the man. "Selina isn't…" she couldn't listen to anymore and finally gave into her lack of oxygen.

The Ringmaster caught her before she fell to the cold cement floor, Max had expected it to be too much, had a feeling that eventually she would hear too much and give into darkness.

"I have more plans; I need my costume from the party poodle woman. I am also a hostage until this works to my favor. No one question my judgment." He warned seeing the organ grinder appeared about to ask what he had in mind for revealing the story to the woman now unconscious in his arms, clearly he knew better by the icy stare aimed his way. "Come along Gracie." Without another word, he turned toward the holding room.

Further into the familiar tunnels he paused outside of the room that had been made for his plans, his intention had been to use Grace to lure Selina to this place eventually, but know his madness had again claimed him. He was going to make Grace hate Selina and somehow he wanted her to understand him, understand the all consuming darkness that had eaten away most of his life.

He left her among the blankets, pillows and cushions that had been placed within the carpet room. He made sure that the door was secured before leaving to become Max Shreck again. _"Why does she want to protect me?" _again the thought seemed to haunt him, but he felt somewhat relaxed when he was presented with his former party attire. He would get his questions answered soon enough.

"_What happened?"_ Grace sat up allowing her eyes to travel her new prison, she remembered everything. Selina was the one responsible for her boss's death, she was responsible for this mess Grace was in and again secrets had driven them apart. The Ringmaster had told her the truth; beneath the madness she had seen the true pain. It hurt her to know that her cousin had changed, but was it because of what happened that she had changed, or had Selina always been that way?

Grace had always found Selina a puzzle, when they were young she was a wild child, always getting them both in trouble and always making her regret her decisions later. Selina then became this mousey little book geek, afraid of the world and terrified of her own shadow. Now Selina was both and something else all together, Grace couldn't find it in herself to like Selina at all right at the moment, her cousin had no right to do what she had done.

Michael Shreck should have been brought to proper justice, Gotham City had enough vigilantes, the Catwoman was not needed. In truth she had always found Batman a bit of a vigilante but at least he believed in justice, or at least she hoped he did.

She finally stopped focusing on the unpleasant truths of her life and studied the room she was in. The walls were solid gray cement, but the floor was covered in a thick warm carpet and she had plenty of linens, pillows and other items to make herself comfortable. The solid door glaring at her reminded her exactly why she was a prisoner and now she had enough to forever haunt her thoughts.

"Max!" instead of dwelling on her bitter thoughts she immediately sat up and wished she hadn't. "Ooo…spinning not good." She grasped her head, startled to feel hands gently grasp her arms and glanced up into a pair of familiar green eyes. "You're alright." Her voice was soft and she seemed truly happy.

Max had returned to the costume from the party, his mask laying aside among the room. He had grown concerned when she didn't wake right away; apparently he had shared too much too soon. He nodded allowing his hands to lower to his knees, he had been uncomfortably kneeling there in hopes she would wake soon.

"I'm fine…he said he didn't hurt you. Told me what he told you." Her face fell, why did all her problems seem to begin and end with Selina? "I was worried when he stated they had Grace Sable." He admitted he was good at acting, it was odd to be playing two people and yet she didn't seem any different.

"Selina is again causing me trouble. The bad part…" she could see his gaze level with hers, easily reaching out and clasping his hands with hers for comfort. "…The Ringmaster isn't lying…She did those horrible things." Her heart felt like it had been chipped into a million pieces.

"_She didn't doubt me?"_ he found this fact truly stupefying, but she had a way of always surprising him one way or another. "This Ringmaster seems only interested in his brother and what she did. I don't think he wants anything to do with the circus." _"I don't, but they are my only hope at the moment…I would much rather work on my own."_ He was aware of her hands lacing with his and wondered what she was doing, if she was even conscious of it.

"You're right." She again met those green eyes that had somehow won her heart; she had mixed feelings over this whole thing. There was something very wrong somewhere among this plot, but she had something to get off her mind before worrying about more issues. "At the party I wanted to tell you something before…this." She smiled wryly at the situation they were in, but decided to plow on. "I think you've grown on me Max…

"I told you that you would learn to like me." He stated a familiar smug smile curving at his lips.

"That you did, but you didn't say that I might…" this was where she had to actually swallow her fear and meet those green eyes. "…might grow fond of you, maybe learn to…" her face was heating she could feel it. "…love you." Her voice was barely loud enough for her own ears, but she could see he had heard her loud and clearly.

Max felt a sudden numbness grip him, Grace was confessing she had deep feelings for him. This was not what he had intended but then again he wasn't sure anymore, his mind seemed to literally have its own voice. _"Was this my plan?"_ It made sense in a strange way, but he wasn't entirely sure that he should allow this. She may have helped him hold onto his sanity, but would this drive them both into purgatory?

"Why?" he was startled by his own voice.

Grace smiled softly at the strange tone in his voice, he was still the most confusing puzzle in her life and yet he truly couldn't understand why someone could care for him. "Because I do…I never expected it, but somehow it happened." She kept her hands firmly locked with his; she could sense his anxiety and was worried he would try to pull away from her.

"_Death grip."_ His thoughts seemed random glancing down at her hold on his hands, she wasn't about to let him hide from this situation. "I don't understand…no one ever cared other than…" he stopped that was close. "…my cousin." It was foreign to him but he felt strangely unnerved by her soft green gaze, almost exposed.

"Max…that wasn't entirely true." She felt strange sensing that but had grown to understand that he wasn't completely right in his own mind, it didn't mean he was dangerous though. "No matter…I care, very much and thought you should know since we're in this mess." She glanced up realizing she was very close to him, probably the closest he had ever offered to be in her presence.

Max was thoroughly confused now; she hadn't lost any sort of feeling for him when he did outright lie to her, even when she knew he was. Grace Sable was the puzzle in this whole scheme of his, but where would she fit was his next worry. He wasn't supposed to let this happen, his vengeance would be ruined before it even began.

His attention returned to the woman before him, before he realized her intentions and could back away he felt her lips press softly to his. The madness in his own mind seemed to cease like a moment forgotten in time, the world paused when her lips curved to his leaning into him. Her kiss was soft, inviting and he felt his resolve go returning the kiss. He was reciprocating those feelings, something he had never done in his life. Grace had somehow gotten past all his hate, careful planning and was now in his heart. She had taken a chisel to the ice around him and made her way there to warm the once frozen terrace.

He wasn't entirely sure why he was letting his resolve go, but he allowed all his hatred aside for just those few moments. Grace did care much more than she should have, he could feel her fingers slip within his hair and feel her deepening the kiss. Hate could lead to love but which was more powerful? Even he wasn't sure anymore all he could think of at the moment was someone truly cared and that was something he needed more than even he dared to admit.

Grace gently pulled back knowing she was now probably red enough to compare to a street light, she had never been so forward with anyone. She hadn't ever really cared much for anyone she had ever dated either. Her mother told her love was only found in fairytales, but she had found it despite the fairytale theory.

His eyes focused on hers; for once he didn't have a comment and tilted his head almost inquisitively. "Gracie…" that was about all he could manage at the moment, he felt strangely breathless. "…thank you." Another foreign concept for him, but it was true; thanking her was all he could do.

"You honestly don't think anyone cares do you?" Her voice was strangely sad.

Max considered before a small smile slipped across his lips. "I didn't think someone cared…" he met her eyes again and saw a small spark in her gaze, something he could sense was a sort of hope. "…I guess I was wrong. I care very deeply for you as well Gracie." That had not been a lie like he had hoped, he had been sincere and now realizations was sinking in, the walls were closing in rapidly now.

He heard the sound of footsteps outside the door, the organ grinder was coming to collect him like he had instructed. Grace had to be left alone and he needed to sort his racing thoughts.

She watched Max stand a sudden panic seemed to grip her. "We have to cooperate for now Gracie. Once he has his discussion with me I will be brought back." She met his eyes hoping for some sort of denial he was willingly going to face the Ringmaster, she found that he was serious though. "I have something to look forward to when I return?" he winked seeing her flush slightly before a small smile curled at her lips and she shook her head.

"Back to your usual self…clearly being kidnapped does not affect your humility by any means." He shrugged exiting quietly into the hall, conceited and as confident as ever.

"Boss?" Max leveled his confused gaze with the organ grinder holding his Ringmaster attire. "What are you going to do to get the Catwoman here?" he knew better than to question the Ringmaster, he was barely alive thanks to his mouth getting him into trouble often enough.

Max glanced briefly behind him lost in his own thoughts, feelings that had never plagued him before were surfacing, but the mention of Selina Kyle brought back that old hatred. "I will have one of the clowns drop off a nice notice at Wayne Manor…Selina is bound to get it." He smirked darkly before grasping his familiar attire and disappearing for his next confrontation with Grace, this was becoming an entertaining challenge.

He thought through his plans, but every time he focused on the puzzle within the locked room he felt his resolve waver. Why did she have to get to him? He didn't understand how he had so foolishly let his inner voice console him, in trusting those familiar feelings he had found himself in a right mess.

"_You do love her…now she can anchor you."_ He shook his head; he didn't want that to be a fact. His identity meant everything to him; Max Shreck was supposed to be dead. No one knew of Michael and this would only complicate matters. He had dug himself a very deep whole and was slowly suffocating while it buried him alive. _"Perhaps she hates Selina enough to help you?"_ an enticing thought, but he knew better.

Grace could dislike Selina all she wanted but she still cared. They were like sisters; the family bond was stronger than any issues with each other. Love was also a promising factor, she claimed to possibly love him and if that was the case she would surely have conflicting feelings. Villains were not allowed happy endings, especially when their crimes were far too dark for even the villain himself to understand them entirely.

Grace heard those familiar sounds of the door being opened, who entered was not whom she wanted to see though. "Hello Gracie…it is nice to see you conscious again. I would guess finding out your cousin has murdered someone would be a bit…

He was cut off when she stood starting to walk briskly toward him. He dodged her outstretched hand catching her wrist before she could claw her way to his mask, she was determined to find out his true identity. He wasn't ready for that and knew that it would send her into darkness again.

"Don't talk about Selina." She spat startled when he caught her other wrist and easily turned her pinning her to the wall in an effort to keep his identity secret.

He had never seen this sort of fire before; she was ready to expose everything to protect her cousin. She knew Selina was a murderer and yet still wanted to protect her? Strangely this didn't surprise him or anger him; he had seen it coming in actuality.

"I know the truth hurts." He hadn't planned that, but he could truly see it had crushed her. Their recent confessions to one another still haunted his thoughts. "I didn't mean to hurt you Gracie…Max said that I might have gone too far." His voice lost the cold threat and softened.

"_Max."_ she felt a small smile on her lips, he did care for her as much as she had thought it was a mistake to tell him how she felt, he cared. "Max was right…" she met those masked eyes feeling her heart actually reach out to this man before her. "…I'm sorry Selina hurt you Ringmaster…Max Shreck." He narrowed his eyes at her assumptions, but was glad that was all she had gathered. "Michael shouldn't have tried to kill her, but I can guess that Selina probably let her more devilish side control her…" she trailed off, she wasn't sure who she was defending anymore. "Michael should have turned himself in…it would have saved you both grief."

"He wanted something left for his son. Chip doesn't know the full story behind his father or uncle either." Her eyes focused on his strangely amused smirk, she felt her heart stop and realized she knew that look.

"_Now I'm loosing my mind."_ She was no longer rationalizing the situation, just because he smirked like that did not mean anything. "It's probably better…I wish I didn't know." She felt his grasp loosen slightly and slid away from the wall rubbing her wrists. "Now what horrors have you come to tell me?"

She could feel his gaze burning into her again and again wished to get her claws on that mask and rip it from him. "I come to ask you if you knew any other men that your cousin associated with…she knows who Batman is, but I can't…" he considered the block he seemed to hit when trying to remember the other that had been there to witness his brothers' death. "…I can't remember his identity." His miserable sigh drew her attention.

"_He belongs in Arkam."_ Was her first thoughts, but she had learned something important since meeting Max. She considered her sanity, his and many within the city. She came to the conclusion that Arkam would be over filled by the time it sorted through half the cities people.

"I don't know. I didn't even know she was Catwoman as you kindly pointed out." She was arguing with one Max and wishing hers was there to help her. "I hate all of this…" she paused he appeared to be lost in his own haunted thoughts; again she was toying with the idea of taking his mask.

He knew she was telling the truth, he had learned to read her like an open book which again had troubled him to an extent. He cared for his enemies' cousin; he actually loved Grace and knew this whole thing would ruin her. She would learn to hate him in a matter of time; all she had to do was take away the thin barrier keeping his identity a secret.

She tilted her head cautious of his body language, he was withdrawn into his ideas, and she could see the preoccupied look in his expression. All she had to was take a few quick steps and she would have the end to her mystery, she was terrified she wouldn't like the answer to her riddle though.

"Ringmaster…" the glazed look disappeared and he met her eyes a questioning furrow of his brow giving away his confusion. "…Do you care for someone?" he felt oddly panicked at the question; he really didn't need this right now his mind was already overworked.

Instead of answering her, he turned to the exit and attempted to leave but a firm grasp on his arm stopped him. "Do you wish to be hurt?" there wasn't the familiar cold warning in his voice, but there was a definite threat for Max if she didn't release her hold.

Her hand lowered before he exited quickly with a resounding click. This had gone from confusing to downright annoying.

He re-entered the cell in the guise of Max Kersh, Grace was pacing with a concerned sort of resignation before glancing up at the sound of the door closing. "He didn't hurt you did he?" she had a bit of worry that her outburst might have made the Ringmaster go after Max.

He shook his head seeing her relieved expression, before she stepped up her hand gently clasping his cheek. "He wouldn't…I need to look good for my publicity photo." She knew that ransom was in order, but her cousin's life was part of the plot also. "Did he hurt you?" he was worried he may have gotten carried away when he restrained her efforts on his mask.

"No." she leaned in feeling his arms close around her and closed her eyes. "He's so broken…his mind reminds me of shattered glass, he always seems to be picking up the pieces. Selina should turn herself in." she felt strange not defending her cousin.

It had been two days now and neither Catwoman or Batman had succeeded in their search. Selina had nearly torn her apartment to pieces in frustration, while Bruce rarely seemed to get in her path. He knew this type of fury, but he had a hold on his own. He knew that Selina wasn't so lucky, at times the cat within her would control her and madness would seep through the cracks.

"If he hurts either of them I will kill him." Her voice was hoarse with rage, eyes hard like blue sapphires.

She was defending Max Kersh only because of Grace's fondness for him, the fact the Ringmaster had taken them both under their noses irked her into a deep frenzy.

"Selina." She stopped long enough to realize she was still within Bruce's home and pacing in front of the fireplace. "There's a note…Alfred found it this morning." She knew by his tone it wasn't good news. "He said you stole something he cared about…it was his turn to take what was his." His brow quirked at the strange meaning behind the note.

"What did I take?" her voice was now tight with a note of feline defiance.

"His Brother…Max Shreck." She dropped her glass of wine immediately, the shattering sound like her world now crumbling around her.

The Ringmaster was Max Shreck's brother, this was news she just couldn't handle. If that was true what he said in the note, Grace's life was at risk of being ended. Another million things to add to her list of guilt and hatred for herself, she had put her cousin in the middle of her own hell.

"If he knows your secret…

"He knows you're Batman." Her voice was strained; her legs no longer allowing her to hold her own she collapsed on the floor somehow avoiding the shattered glass around her.

Max had again been pulled from her grasp and she was now facing off with the Ringmaster in a rather irritated repetitive form of earlier. He had yet to speak but those eyes seemed to focus through her, every step she paced his gaze followed. She was full of spite and rage, but Max's life was important to her.

She still felt his arms lingering around her like a friendly ghost from her past, it made her feel somehow safe in all the danger she was in. "Staring isn't polite." She snipped turning to the sound of pleased laughter.

"How is it you think I should be polite?" Max enjoyed this side of Grace a lot, being the Ringmaster showed a side she kept under control far too well. "I'm a madman." It was true, but she wasn't about to let that stop her sharp tongue.

"No shit." Her blunt statement didn't surprise him, but the crude curse did. "Why did you take him again?" she turned seeing him lower his head, his hat hiding his face with shadow.

"Because you care and it's useful to keep these visits short." Useful for him, but it felt strange doing this to her even if he didn't care to admit that to himself.

Grace had enough of these games, and amusing staring contests. She needed to know who the man behind the Ringmaster was. It may have been Max Shreck, but something troubled her about some of his gestures, and those eyes the familiarity unnerved her.

She walked up her finger very close to his nose. "You have no need to worry; he seems intent to help you. Even if he would rather not." Her test had succeeded; he just casually waved her hand off leaning back against the wall. "You're so egotistically…" she faltered seeing his eyes roll that amused look again disturbing her.

Her hand reached out getting the mask before he could react on her trickery. "That was a bad idea Gracie." She dropped the mask dumbstruck; again her world was spinning considerably out of control.

"_MAX!"_ She could feel the threat of fainting creeping up on her again but with great effort she managed to push it aside. "Max? I-I don't understand." Her voice was barely audible, yet sadly she did understand.

She understood the anger, the vengeance and what drove him. He had been off since she met him, he had always been crazy but it hadn't registered just how serious until then. She loved a lunatic out to kill her cousin.

"Why don't you?" the frail fabric that kept his two personas separate was now gone, Grace was entitled to hate him now. _"So much for her caring."_ He was surprised he cared, the bitter thought lingered strongly though.

"_He's hurt."_ She could hear it in his voice, his true identity was revealed now and all of his plans. The truth was out and she was thoroughly in the middle. Did she understand hatred this deep? No, but she did understand love and whether she wanted to face facts or not she did love him. Selina was gone over the edge and now she was willing to follow the lunacy hidden within the man she loved. The idea was startling, but could she succeed in keeping two people she cared about from killing each other? She knew that there was a possibility she would have to choose, but could she do that?

She knew arguing with herself wasn't helping; she needed Max to understand she did care. She would figure someway to protect Selina if she could. "I think I do actually." That wasn't what she wanted to say, but unfortunately she couldn't lye to him as much as she would have liked to do so. "I just don't want to choose." She ignored his startled expression and walked over flopping among the linens; she lifted a black blanket around herself and buried herself within it.

She no longer cared to look at Max, the truth had hurt but so did the knowledge that she didn't care anymore. She did care for both people, but who was she to decide what punishment was necessary? The justice system was supposed to do that, which left her completely lost in her own personal hell. _"I'm in love with a career criminal, who has lost his mind and is willing to kill my cousin for murdering his brother. This is not a fairytale, more like a bad nightmare."_ She frowned withdrawing further into the blanket.

To say he was surprised would be a major understatement, even though the truth had been revealed she still cared. "Gracie?" his voice had returned to that familiar soft tone she had grown to know as him coaxing her out of some fit she had with him. "Please?" he watched her shift the blanket over her head, before she turned to face a wall.

"_Stubborn woman."_ He smirked; even if the situation wasn't funny it was still something to watch her act so childish. He walked slowly over kneeling down reaching out to her shoulder; she slid further away muttering curses under her breath.

"Go away." She winced hearing his amused giggle, before allowing her head out of her cocoon briefly. "It isn't funny…you want to kill my cousin. You're making me choose and I don't want to. Have her arrested…revenge isn't going to help. It always makes things worse." There wasn't any sense reasoning with him, but she wanted to try.

He lowered his hand; as much as he hated to admit it she did have a point. He was forcing her to choose and that was the only thing that did get through. "Selina chose for herself…you don't really have to choose, the choice has already been made. Question is do I leave you captive or are you willing to be at my side?" if she could have found the energy to slap him she would have, but as crazy as he truly was, sadly he was right.

This had been all made before she came to Gotham; this was already a mess that she was dumped into. Did she stay with the one she loved or remain the captive? Grace had never been so confused in her life and the truth of the matter this was all in the gray, nothing was black or white. She would just have to stop Selina and him from killing one another somehow, her best bet for that was to go be at his side, but did he truly trust her?

He wasn't a fool she knew that she wouldn't be trusted completely, but exactly how far was she trusted and did she have to stay there? These questions made her reconsider the situation and again hide within her blanket. _"I hate Gotham City."_ She ignored everything around her for the moment.

He knew that she was hurt; he also knew that he could only allow himself to trust her so far. His hand again come to rest on her shoulder, but this time she didn't shrug him off, he could feel her shaking through the blanket and had a feeling that she may have succumbed to tears, or at least quiet sobs.

"Gracie…come on; let's get you out of here and to my house." She glanced up at the idea she wouldn't have to stay in the dreary tunnels of the zoo any longer, but she still felt betrayed by the two people she cared most for. "Unless you would rather remain the captive?" she allowed her blanket to fall and turned to meet those green eyes that had won her heart.

She could see a reflexive move that resembled a small cringe; she wiped the tears from her face and shrugged. "What did you expect? Crazy laughter?" her eyes lowered to the offered hand, before she surrendered gripping it and finding herself easily lifted to her feet. "You're right about this being done before I got here, but now I'm in the middle. I won't let her kill you and you know I won't let you kill her." That present cocky smirk only seemed to make her annoyed.

"I know that Gracie." It was true too, but he would deal with that when it became necessary at the moment they had come to an understanding and she still loved him, that was all that mattered for now.

Alfred had been down to the Batcave many times in his life, but this was the first of several times in one day that he felt like an invader. Bruce was intently going through every lead he could possibly find on the Ringmaster and Selina was literally talking to herself nearly driven to insanity. He knew that Grace had some calming effect on her; he had known it since Grace started to talk with him often trying to understand Selina's changes.


	9. Chapter 9: Coming out with a bang

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_A/N: My other stories are on hold for now except the "Studies In Chocolate" one I've been working on. I dug a whole and am still trying to find a way out of what I did. I also have some others in the works, so keep a look out for that. Thank you all for being so patient with my recent computer crisis's and everything else that has gone wonky. I appreciate you sticking with me._

**

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Chapter 9: Coming out with a bang**

"Ms. Kyle…your wine?" Selina froze at Alfred's familiar voice allowing her slightly wild blue gaze to study him, before she let out a frustrated sigh and forced a smile.

"Thank you Alfred." She was thankful that she hadn't shattered anymore of Bruce's glasses, she felt all her threads of sanity slowly unraveling and was gradually coming to the conclusion she needed to go rip apart the Ringmaster. "What does she talk to you about?" she felt a strange feline like calm come over her like a familiar blanket, she hadn't been entirely stupid seeing how Grace had felt so close to the butler.

Alfred had a feeling that this would happen eventually, Grace had talked to him like some fatherly figure and it had seemed to make her issues with Selina a little more tolerable in some fashion. He had promised the girl that he wouldn't speak of their discussions but knew that Selina wasn't the most stable of people at the moment.

"She only wished to understand you miss…I promised I wouldn't talk about it. She was confused and much like I did with Master Bruce I allowed her an ear to listen." She smiled slightly before nodding; she didn't want to make Grace any madder at her than she was already.

Alfred was gone hearing Bruce muttering something about finding very little in the area that could be used so easily by the deadly circus. The only remaining option he had was where the whole incident had originated, the ruins of Gotham Zoo. Selina had a feeling that this wasn't going to work in either of their favor and something would indeed happen.

Grace had found out that five days had passed since the masquerade, yet it didn't feel that long ago. She had been allowed the freedom of Max's home, but preferred to linger in the sitting room or the room given to her. She felt her privacy invaded by the circus members within the house and was starting to understand Max's resentment toward them. They always seemed present, almost needy in a fashion. He had been interrupted many times trying to coax her out of the shell she had put up around herself, she still loved him with all her heart but this revenge plot was too difficult for her to deal with at that point.

She hadn't left the couch in hours and felt her eyes grow heavy; sleep had been rare for her with all her troubling thoughts lurking in the shadows of her mind. She was very tired and began to doze, before her eyes snapped open to the familiar steps of Max coming to join her. She had learned far too easily the sound of his steps; they had changed considerably from the strangely fast giddy pace, to that of a slow deliberate sound. He knew she was angry and upset; it had become his form of distance to her.

She lowered the wine glass to the end table beside her allowing her green eyes to follow the sound. "You look tired Gracie." It was rather obvious she had little sleep, dark circles had become apparent. "You need to rest otherwise you won't be in any shape for anything." She wanted to loathe him but still her heart wouldn't let her.

"Max…stuff it." She crossed her arms staring harder at the dancing flames.

He couldn't help but smile, she may have been angry with him but clearly she was still happy within his presence. "Love to…are you offering?" this got him the middle finger, before she returned to her previous pouting position. "You can't hate me forever…you admitted that yourself." She felt the couch give beside her and mentally scolded herself for allowing him to get so close.

"I can certainly try." She seethed feeling his arms shift around her pulling her against his chest and allowing her to lean back.

She never attempted to fight off his affections; she needed them as much as it worried her to admit that. Even in this whole mess she had grown closer to him, which would make this far more difficult when she found Max facing off with Selina. She had no hope of preventing that from happening, but she was determined not to let the cemetery end up with another body during that battle.

She was warm against him, he had grown to take great comfort in her affections and the fact that she was not afraid of the true monster he was deep inside. He found more solace in her than he ever had when Michael was alive, he had his suspicions it was because she held her own bit of insanity within herself.

Grace was not entirely insane, but she had her share of reality issues. "Even if she doesn't kill you…you will end up in Arkam." Her voice brought him from his thoughts, she was right and he loathed that idea more than Selina taking his life.

"My freedom stripped and true madness settling in." she turned to the dark tone seeing his eyes grow cold, she knew that he had been treated like a freak for most of his life but what did he hide within that insanity. "Selina may join me if she lets her secret control her." He was surprised to feel a tender hand against his cheek and glanced down.

The smallest of smiles seemed to cross her lips. "She needs the help Max…I think she's always needed some help since becoming that darkness within herself. You on the other hand…I'm not sure if it will ever help." She noticed the slight frown crease his face. "The darkness that haunts you is what makes you…unique. I don't think I want that to be taken away, I don't think you are the killer you think you are either." She knew that was an outright lie, but she had to try and stop this mess before it really got out of hand.

"My dear…your soft lies are no match for my darkness. Your promises aren't empty though." He leaned down capturing her lips with his, feeling her turn into the kiss before pulling back. "We will see what happens when the time comes." She knew it was useless to argue, but could he blame her for trying?

Selina had grown even more frustrated by the time she returned from Bruce's. It had been two more days and still nothing had been accomplished. Traces of someone being within the old caverns of the zoo lingered, but whomever they were had left in a hurry. Grace and Max were still missing with no trace, Bruce still hadn't gathered any new leads and the Catwoman was still chasing her tail, literally in this case.

She continued to pace allowing a feral growl into the night, slowly she come to a strange calm a familiar comfort of her feline abilities and saw the apartment was strangely empty. Most of the familiar furry bodies that lived within her home were gone, not even Midnight had greeted when she entered her home. This wouldn't bother her usually, but being the Catwoman and knowing felines intimately it was very quiet, too quite in her opinion.

Slowly her eyes move to the window that was ajar but no feline greeted her. "Midnight?" her voice was barely audible the predatory part of her character kicking into full gear. "Gracie?" that was stupid on her part, but she couldn't shake the hope Grace had escaped.

She let out a hiss sensing something off within her home and immediately searched for the source of the problem.

Max watched casually as the Ringmaster from the fire escape, she had overlooked him due to him easily blending with the shadows of the night, the gloom serving as his executioners' cape. Her hiss reminded him that she was now alert to danger and would soon fine his careful laid out plan, it wasn't the revenge he had envisioned but he wanted to involve Grace as little as possible.

Her strong feelings for both of them had become a great ripple in his plans for revenge. Allowing himself to care for her had made things considerably difficult and there wasn't a way to get her to cooperate. Grace didn't hate Selina like he had intended, she disliked what she had become but hate was not possible. She still loved her cousin even through the hell she had been put through.

"Perhaps Gracie is mad?" his lip formed a small smile, allowing his icy gaze to follow the stalking woman searching for what was out of place. "Just like catnip, curiosity killed the cat my dear." He bowed easily sliding down the fire escape like the darkness itself.

He lingered on the sidewalk staring up at the apartment building before turning to his awaiting car.

**BANG!!!**

He chuckled in dark amusement ignoring the brightening flames behind him, the cat was now out of her lives and he was free to do as he pleased. Grace would know he was involved in Selina's demise when she discovered the fact Selina had been killed during a bomb blast.

He had his plans for that though and would get two annoyances out of his hair, the deadly circus was wearing out their welcome considerably and he no longer cared for the familiarity of them roaming his home.

Bruce had been made aware of the explosion and was immediately called to find the Ringmaster's handy work had again disrupted Gotham's peace. Batman was ready for action and ready to find evidence to where this new menace lived, but Bruce was not ready to discover where the explosion had originated, or the fact that firefighters were still trying to determine if there was a survivor within the now demolished apartment.

"_Selina!"_ immediately he was in saving mode, climbing to the rooftops and hoping that she was still alive and in one piece. He didn't want to loose her and knew that once Grace was found it would crush her.

She practically lived in the sitting room, often staring off into space or reading an interesting book. Max's library proved useful and entertaining when he was out running about in the guise of Ringmaster, he still had yet to share his plans for Selina, but she was content knowing he wouldn't do anything too rash too soon without her knowledge. She hoped that she wasn't wrong in this assumption, her love had blinded a good share of her common sense in the time she had learned his dark secrets.

Familiar sounds greeted her ears and she immediately allowed her stare to linger with those familiar green eyes. "Evening Gracie." He was in good spirits which brought a small smile to her face, what surprised her was the white lilies he had to offer her in turn for his latest romp through Gotham. "Thought they might cheer you up." She couldn't help but smile allowing the soft petals to graze against her nose.

All his giddy nature turned to a form of seriousness that had her suddenly concerned. "Max?" his eyes lingered on the familiar organ grinder she knew as Vincent before the door shut leaving the pair alone. "What did they do?" she had come to learn that the Deadly Circus members had plans of their own and didn't always do what Max wished, he had told her of these deeds often enough to make her despise them even more.

"_Sorry for this Gracie, but it is for our own good."_ Slowly his fingers entwined with hers, lowering himself in front of her, those green eyes were full of apprehension and a wary understanding. "I lost track of them again, Poodle woman…um Sophia and Vincent took some of the others tonight while I did my rounds. I fear the Ringmaster is loosing his authority with the troop." His voice wavered an almost sad tone taking over.

Grace felt a cold dread slowly snaking the ice like fingers within her body. "Max…what are you not telling me? You have to tell me…

His finger against her lips silenced the panic seeping into her voice, eyes wild with fear. "They attacked Selina's apartment building…I'm not sure if she survived or not. I went to see if I could help, as much as I loathe the woman you were right…caring for you made me soft. I couldn't find her." Grace felt tears burn her eyes and lowered her head, her body shaking with sobs.

He embraced her tightly feeling her collapse into his embrace both falling to the floor in defeat. A slow ghost of a smile slid across his face, mocking all that he had accomplished. He had won and now Grace would always be his, they would live in darkness together as one.

The next day Grace had yet to leave her room, she had made sure the only one to come near her was Max. He had promised to do what he could, but to keep suspicion at bay the Deadly Circus still lingered within the house. She felt sick, memories of how Selina had been going through her thoughts, brief smiles would grace her face and then the pain would return.

Grace felt the tears again sliding down her face, she would never see the one person in the world that could make her hate and lover her all at the same time. Selina was gone along with any hope of repairing what relationship they had. Catwoman had finally been killed; Selina Kyle was no longer in her world. _"What will I do without her?"_ she still had Max and had a feeling if he wasn't there she would have completely lost what normality she had, whatever reality she had grasped was only because of Selina.

_Knock, Knock_

She couldn't even call out an answer; her throat was raw with painful tears and hiccups. "Gracie?" he entered the room seeing the rumpled mess before him. "You look horrible my love." She didn't even offer him a contemptuous look; she shrugged burying herself deeper in the mass of red linens.

The room she had stayed in was simple in style. Almond colored striped paper, deep tan carpets and red décor. Her linens were a rich blood red with matching curtains draping from the canopy, the dresser and wardrobe a lighter wood and finally a desk for her to design at. She admitted though since learning of Selina's death, she had yet to move from bed.

Grace felt that she really had no reason to move, not only that she didn't have the urge for a shower or to look at the man trying to cling to their budding love for one another. Her eyes were sore, puffy and itchy. Her face was sticky and her body ached from the continuous sobs she was raked with. _"Go away Max."_ she felt like he was intruding on her and rolled lifting the blankets over her head.

Slowly his gaze lingered on her stretched form, watching her roll away from his soft voice. She was heartbroken and listless, he had broken her without meaning to do so and felt strangely sad for it. It would be fixed in time when he was rid of the deadly circus and the consequences they had brought to him.

"Gracie you need to get up. Today is the day that we managed to escape the wrath of the Ringmaster." His voice was coaxing, soft and welcoming.

She felt him climb onto the bed beside her, feeling the gentle feel of his hand rubbing her back trying to comfort her but it wasn't enough. Reluctantly she stressed her issues by lifting the blankets further over her head. He felt a familiar almost annoyed feeling smirking at her reluctance to move before easily tugging the blankets from her head.

"Not giving you a choice Gracie…" she turned to protest his attempts at rousing her and felt his lips crushing down on hers, it was a warm inviting kiss which she returned willingly. "…up." His voice was soft breathless and she could see the need in that deep green gaze.

Their relationship had grown considerably and the need was apparent between them both, but this was not the time. For one he felt she wasn't thinking clearly because of what happened and he knew that she would hate herself later for it.

Grace felt her body heat up at the strange look in those eyes, but she already hated herself for feeling happy when Selina was dead. She didn't need this to further her problems because she really cared for Max and wasn't about to let her personal regrets ruin any happiness they could share.

"If I didn't like you…I wouldn't bother moving." Her voice was hoarse, but his warm smile made her feel better.

He stood offering her a hand from the bed watching her wrinkled blue gown fall to her ankles, the soft fabric curving to her body. "I know that Gracie…" he glanced up seeing the poodle woman enter the room without acknowledging either of them. "…relax." He whispered feeling her hand tense within his and pulling her within his arms.

Soon the woman left bowing out like the proper servant she had become during the day. "I still can't shake the feeling they're plotting our demise." Her voice was meek compared to the confident tone he had grown fond of.

"They wouldn't dare." His voice was cold and defiant; she knew he would kill them if they looked at them remotely wrong. "Go get ready." He watched her reluctantly walk to a now drawn bath, before closing the door with a familiar cocky smirk and wink to follow.

Alfred had been watching Bruce stare hopelessly into the flames for hours each day, barely eating or talking. It hurt him to see his friend so saddened by the past events, his usual darkness eating away whatever warmth remained. It had been a week since Selina's accident and status was still unknown. If she was alive, dead or what was still a mystery because his duty was to the city before himself.

"I failed her again." Alfred started at the familiar voice seeing Bruce barely meet his gaze.

"Master Bruce…you didn't fail anyone and you aren't sure if she's even gone. She could be in a coma, nothing has been released to anyone not even Batman. You should not assume the worst." He noted Bruce again return to the defeated staring man, barely acknowledging a word he had said.

Alfred started to leave the room turning to a news broadcast that had gone unnoticed by Bruce; clearly the man no longer cared for anything at the moment. He focused on the images of Grace and Max appearing on the screen with announcement that they had been found alive and well by one of their staff, the Ringmaster had left them unattended and they had managed an escape. Police were now swarming at Max Shreck's home, keeping reporters at bay and their privacy safe.

Bruce stood catching sight of the broadcast and turned to Alfred. "Get the car ready Alfred…I'm going to at least try and comfort Grace for Selina's sake." He left without a word, he hope that somehow this would all work out in the end.

Grace barely managed to drink her tea with the constant firing questions from police, Max had a strange make up form of disguise but she knew the secrets now and it no longer bothered her. She ignored the biggest share of the questions, her focus on Commissioner Gordon who had kindly informed her of her cousin's condition, being family she was entitled to know that Selina had survived the explosion but was on hospital monitors and machines with little hope of recovery. She would have to make a painful decision soon and wasn't ready to deal with the 'coming out' like Max had originally planned on.


	10. Chapter 10: Awakening Disappointments

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_A/N: My other stories are on hold for now except the "Studies In Chocolate" one I've been working on. I dug a whole and am still trying to find a way out of what I did. I also have some others in the works, so keep a look out for that. Thank you all for being so patient with my recent computer crisis's and everything else that has gone wonky. I appreciate you sticking with me._

**

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Chapter 10: Awakening Disappointments**

Max was past frustrated that Selina had survived the explosion, his only comfort was that she had no hope of real recovery and that Grace would have to eventually allow her cousin to be let go from the machines. He took notice to her reaction toward the police and all the issues that lingered, she clearly wanted to be left alone and he knew eventually she would need to see Selina for herself, not something he wanted to deal with.

An officer was distracted with a familiar voice that immediately got her attention. "Mr. Wayne…I can't allow you to enter here at present…

"Bruce?" Grace was on her feet carefully making her way to the entry of the sitting room. "Let him in officer…please." Reluctantly the young man did so and Bruce stepped in followed by a familiar presence. "It's good to see you Bruce, you too Alfred." Max noticed the soft smile toward the butler and rose a brow feeling a brief smile tug at his lips; it was the first smile he had seen in hours.

"I'm glad you're alright Grace, Mr. Kersh took care of you I see." Bruce kept any suspicions that Selina had hammered in his head at bay, the man had kept Grace safe and clearly during the whole thing had grown very close.

She smiled thanking him for his concern and watched Alfred retreat from the chaos. "Do you know anything about Selina?" she saw the hard look in his expression and gathered Bruce was still in the dark. "She's in the hospital…she isn't well and there's little hope. I was told I would have to decide to let her go if things kept the way they are." She felt the tears sting her eyes, Bruce looked crushed and his expression paled considerably.

"Mr. Wayne." She felt Max's arm around her and leaned into the comfort, from what she had gathered he had let his revenge go. Selina's pain was her pain and she hoped Max finally understood her feelings toward them both. "If it is all right with you, Grace has been staying with me, but if you would like her to accompany you back to Wayne manor…" he paused seeing a slight panic in her expression. "…I won't protest, but it is her decision." He felt her relax at his side, she didn't want to be anywhere without him.

Bruce didn't really want company right then, but Grace was Selina's cousin and it would mean a lot if Selina knew he was willing to care for her. "Of coarse, but it is her decision." He stated nearly lost in his own dark thoughts.

"I'm fine Bruce…Max has been very kind and we've been through a lot." She could see the pain in those dark eyes; he clearly was grieving for Selina. "You can reach me here if you need me. I will have the officers know that you are welcome to see Selina." She stated softly seeing him nod before quickly bowing out.

It was nearly six hours before the house was again empty, Grace remained curled in the corner of the couch of the sitting room. She was content to sit there and let her world crumble around her. Memories of childhood haunted her, the Deadly Circus's presence angering her and she was about to crack completely.

If Max hadn't been in that house with her she was sure she would have taken matters into her own hands, illegal or not she was furious. "Gracie?" she looked up at the wine offered before her, allowing herself to accept the liquid and returned her dark look to the flames. "What are you thinking my dear?"

She fixated her gaze on those cool green eyes watching her every move. "Revenge." It was simple and to the point, something that struck him as strange. "Selina was all the family I had left…loosing my job wasn't the only reason I come back." She hadn't thought about this in a long time, not since Selina had finally convinced her to return.

"Back?" he knew little about Grace, but he did remember why she was in the cemetery and wondered if she was about to reveal more about herself. "What do you mean Gracie?" she felt her lips twitch slightly, her dark thoughts clouding her mind.

"Do you really want to know that much Max…you might learn more than you care to." She was very serious and those green eyes had again hardened, a strange glint making him just a little uneasy.

"Yes." Her eyes searched for some sign of sincerity, it wasn't often she saw the clearness that was there. Usually he was off in his own madness, but at the moment he was focused on her completely.

She sipped at her wine wondering if she should tell him why she was different, why Selina was her lifeline to the world. Her past was haunted to an extent, but did she trust him enough to let herself open up. She had never done that with anyone but Selina, even her own mother had been afraid of her at one time.

"I was in Arkam when I was little." This got his attention faster than she expected. "My mother was afraid of me because I lived so close to a fantasy world; she had misunderstood and put me there thinking I was mad." She felt her anger return, the bitterness seeping into her voice. "My grandparents took custody of me from her for a long time. I lived with them and learned the ways of proper society. It was determined that my mother suffered from her own delusions and because of that she thought I was crazy. I lost her when I was ten; gram told me that she had killed herself. I think the madness finally won." Her eyes stung but she didn't cry, she was all out of tears left to fall.

"That's who you visited in the cemetery." She nodded seeing his eyes lingering on her carefully. "Selina took you in?"

"Not exactly…she was like my adoptive sister when my grandparents died. My mother had two sisters, Aunt Raina and Aunt Nadine. Nadine was the one that adopted me; I've called her mom for years. She took me to the country and that was where I grew up." She paused smiling slightly. "She still lives back in that small town, but she told me that the town was too small…Selina and Gotham would be best for me to make a new start in." she met his gaze. "Scaring you away yet?"

Max considered how different she had seemed when he met her, this story didn't actually surprise him. He felt nothing different, understanding her darker side did make things more interesting for him though. He now had more about her and more understanding to why they worked well together.

"No…I'm crazy remember my love?" She couldn't help the smile on her lips; she found it considerably ironic she would fall in love with a madman, literally. "How did you get so close to her?" she caught the sour tone, but ignored it.

He had reasons to hate Selina; she would never deny him that. "She was always visiting, getting me into trouble. I was the younger sister and she was the queen of manipulation. I still will miss her though Max." her voice cracked; apparently she hadn't run out of tears yet.

She had remained within the crook of his arm slowly succumbing to sleep, she couldn't take anymore stress and Max had become more than someone to love; he had become her last thread of reality to cling to. She loved him, as screwed up as things were it was what she wanted.

His eyes traced her face, tear stained pale cheeks and a sad expression that made him feel considerably off. He had grown soft and all because of Grace, he almost hated the fact he was responsible for her pain, but he would never allow that to become known. That would destroy whatever fragile bond they had retained.

He glanced up seeing the organ grinder and poodle woman lingering in the doorway, both appeared to be waiting for his orders. "Come along Gracie." He murmured lifting her into his arms and taking her to her room.

He lay her within the comfort of her bed, watching her murmur in her sleep before returning to the blissful darkness of dreams. He could hear her even breathing, gliding a hand gently across her cheek before turning to exit.

The organ grinder remained watching Max hesitantly, the poodle woman was already weary of those cold eyes lingering on them and got the distinct feeling he would kill them without a second thought.

"You know what to do." Both bowed out leaving to finish off the Catwoman, the bane of his existence. "It is simple if she needs machines to survive." He knew that they heard him; he felt their eyes meet his back before they were gone.

The house was silent; the deadly circus would deal with his revenge, and then would be gone. His plans involved giving their location to Batman, he would assign them to return to where he had found them and that would be two problems from his life. He would then make a new life for himself; he wanted Grace to be part of that.

"_I won't ever let her go."_ He meant every word of that thought, he would kill anyone that tried to take her away and if she ever tried to leave, she wouldn't live to see another day. She was what kept the madness at bay, that was all he would ever need from her. Her affection was important to him as well but he wouldn't admit that to himself until he was sure she was completely his.

She woke with a start, nightmares of Selina's accident crushing down on her in the darkness. "Shit." She whispered softly to the shadows that clung to her room.

She was aware of something at her side and turned seeing Max lying there watching over her, he was asleep but his presence was a comfort to her. Slowly she allowed her fingers to brush against his hair, feeling her heart start to return to a normal rate. Laying back down she managed to get her breathing under control and allowed her dreams to again claim her.

Grace felt a gentle sensation of someone's arm around her and opened her eyes reluctantly to the gray light barely in the room. She followed the feeling and saw Max was still near her eyes intently watching her; he smiled seeing her brief glance about.

"Are you feeling better Gracie?" all the horrors of the previous day come crashing around her, she felt hollow and sick. "No…I can already see it." She had grown to understand he was different with her; she had softened him to an extent and knew this by his gestures.

"Just miserable…empty." Her voice was weak and very sore sounding. Every word hurt her to utter.

His hand gently cupped her face eyes lingering intently with hers. "You aren't hollow Gracie…just broken." The word fit her perfectly and she wasn't going to disagree with him at all. "Bruce called this morning…he went to see her." He saw the tears welling and took a soft breath trying to stop his annoyance.

"She's bad?" Max wasn't going to lye to her about that subject; he nodded allowing his expression to turn solemn. "I can't deal with this Max. I can't just let her go." To his surprise she wrapped her arms around pulling him down into her embrace.

She snuggled tightly to him allowing her sobs to control her; she was shaking and sounded hopeless in her weeping. He stayed in her arms slowly pulling her up with him and leaning back against the headboard, he kept her trembling body close closing his eyes tight. He was focusing on his own darker thoughts allowing her pain to go into the void, she would come around eventually.

She would heal and he would remain her rock, he wanted to despise himself for letting this happen. He loved Grace Sable and no matter what the price was, he wasn't going to deny it any longer. He felt her pain robbing his thoughts, her sobs broke his resolve, he would take her to see the murdering woman that took away his brother and nearly caused him to collapse into complete darkness.

His hand stroked along her back feeling her starting to relax, sobs subsiding to soft sniffles and hiccups. "Grace…" she looked up meeting those blue eyes. "…you need to see her." His finger paused on her lips stopping her protest. "If you don't face the situation it is only going to get worse, you're breaking down and right now Selina needs you. Bruce might need you as well, you know Selina…would she want you this way?"

Sighing she slowly shook her head, as much as it hurt, Selina would want her to be strong and go to her. Selina would want her to let her go and help those that would be missing her most. _"Selina would want me to be happy…with Max I can be."_ Carefully she moved from his embrace brushing at her tear stained face.

"You're right." He offered her a brief smile to comfort her before excusing himself for her to get ready. "Thank you Max." he heard the sincerity there and wondered why he couldn't deny the fact he was responsible for Selina's demise, but still care for Grace without guilt.

It was the first time Max Shreck remembered ever being scared, especially of something as simple as an emotion.

Bruce had been with Selina for hours a day, no changes in anything had happened and he was growing more and more solemn. Grace had yet to find the strength to come see that her strong cousin was now wired like some machine herself.

Tubes, monitors, and sounds the only indication Selina Kyle even lived at all. Her soft curls lay limp like string on a rag doll, her eyes still closed in the illusion of peaceful sleep. He knew it was the work of the Ringmaster; he had done everything in his power to find the man and still had yet to bring him to justice. After Selina's attack he had literally disappeared, occasionally Batman would deal with the Deadly Circus but rarely did he see much of them any longer.

Gotham was again silent to the criminal element, Batman weeping for the woman he cared for. "Bruce?" he glanced up from wearily rubbing his temples and offered a forced smile.

"Grace." He greeted seeing her stare fixated on Selina her eyes red and again glistening with tears. "There hasn't been any changes…the police suspect that perhaps the Ringmaster had a vendetta against her." She refused to meet his gaze; she knew that was a lye the Deadly Circus was responsible; Max would not lye about that.

He had hated Selina with good reason, but loving her he couldn't hurt her in that way. She felt her anger boil before allowing her hardened gaze to linger on the man that loved her cousin.

"Bruce…" she paused wondering how she could word this delicately, her attention turning to the entrance of Max who waited curious to what she was going to say. "…I would be more willing to accept that menacing circus did it. When Max and I were held by the Ringmaster, he made to indication of going for revenge like this. He wanted to expose her secret to the world…" Bruce couldn't help when his eyes widened slightly.

"What are you talking about Grace?" he felt cold all over, did Max Shreck tell her both their secrets? Would she accuse him of this happening to her cousin?

Grace could see the apprehension there, the fear and offered a warm smile. "I know her secret because the Ringmaster told me. He only wanted her exposed for whatever she did to him." She had given him enough surprises for one day. "He wouldn't have done this, but the Circus I wouldn't' be so sure…I think he's lost his control over them to some extent." Max's arm went easily around her waist, he was tense and wasn't so sure he liked this information being shared so freely.

Bruce considered what had happened; it would make sense for a madman to want the woman that hurt him exposed to the world. Sometimes justice was a bit too brutal and he would be the first to admit to that. Grace only knew part of their tangled web of secrets, clearly she didn't know he was Batman or she would have hated him, or at the very least grew angry with him.

Slowly he gathered his coat determined to see if he could find the circus. This was just the clue Batman needed to at least get justice for Selina no matter what she had done. "Thank you Grace…maybe this will help the Commissioner. The Ringmaster is no longer the biggest threat if your suspicions are correct." She nodded watching him reluctantly glance at Selina almost like he didn't want to leave. "I will check back later."

With that he bowed out of the room leaving the pair to watch Selina.

Grace stepped from Max's side walking over to Selina's bed. She hated the fact that the machines looked like tentacles draining her cousin of her life, even if they were there keeping her alive it still hurt.

She grasped the cool hand of her cousin noting no response like she had wanted and sighed. "I'm sorry Selina…I wish I had known that this would happen. I love you with all my heart, you're the closest thing I ever had to a sister." She felt herself choke and realized she couldn't say more, she was there to technically end her cousins' existence and couldn't bring herself to apologize anymore.

The more she apologized the harder it was for her to accept the reality. She would let Bruce say his goodbyes before coming back to see the doctors. She couldn't just do it without him having a true idea why she was there; it would be cruel to break his heart further.

Max gently grasped her hand feeling the trembling he had grown accustomed to since this had happened. "What are you going to tell Bruce?" she met his eyes seeing the pain there for her that reminded her of his changes.

"Nothing…I'm going to let him say goodbye before I allow them to release her." Her voice wavered but for some reason the words finally made her find her inner strength. "I hate them Max…all of them." She gripped his hand tighter feeling her face flush, heart pounding with a driven pain, they would pay for this.

He had never heard her sound so violent; it was rather unnerving when he considered the truth behind Selina's demise. "I know." His voice was soft near her hear, her head slowly leaning on his shoulder.

The Deadly Circus had their own ideas; the organ grinder knew something had changed since the girl had come into the house. They feared the Ringmaster, he was deadly but around the woman he was almost soft. They were safe as long as he remained happy, he was clearly satisfied which meant they had no reason to fear their own demise.

The poodle woman wasn't so sure with this assumption, but had always trusted the organ grinder's instincts. "He will betray us?" he gave her a dark look shaking his head.

"No…but we need to stop being present so often. Shadows are best silent." She nodded gathering that the others should retreat back to the underground leaving him and her behind, along with the strongman who was useful for medical advice.

Grace had never been so angry in her life at anyone. Those that hurt Selina would pay and she was quite sure she didn't give a shit how Max did it. She only knew that she loathed them with every fiber of her being and they had destroyed a part of her.

Once they had returned to Max's house she had feverishly paced her room, everything she had owned went with Selina's apartment and he had taken her in. It wasn't of pity or necessity, he had grown to care for her like she had him. Against her protests he had provided clothing for her and allowed her to work out of the house. Rarely did he go into the office now that he had his necessary access at home, only very important meetings would convince him out.

She had literally shut herself from the world, the only news she ever got was that from Bruce or Alfred. Grace had yet to let Selina go it had been a week since the incident and she still allowed her the opportunity to wake, she knew it was letting her suffer longer but her heart would break if she went through with it.

She had become depressed, barely eating, sleeping or speaking with anyone but three men she knew fairly well. Max knew all of her secrets, her desires, and especially her hate. Alfred was there to console the anger she had toward Selina, often reminding her that it is easy to forgive and forget when the heart is broken. Bruce was more broken then herself and rarely offered her much conversation, his loyalty to Selina had warmed her heart toward him considerably though, and especially the distant look that reminded her how much he cared for her cousin.

"Gracie?" she turned jumping nearly a foot at the familiar voice. "I've left a clue for our bat friend to find the circus troop. I will handle Vincent and Sophia myself when I am sure things have settled." He stood there in full Ringmaster attire, but those familiar eyes comforted her and the small smirk she had grown to love made her smile slightly.

"I'm more worried about the Ringmaster getting caught by the Batman…please stay with me." Her voice was different than he was use to, it wasn't a request but it did indicate she wasn't willing to negotiate.

His logical mind was telling him that watching the demise of those he had incorporated into his greater design was necessary, but his heart had other notions to necessity. Before he could allow the logic to take over he felt her hands gently removing the mask from his face, cape also soon following, Grace was not letting him out tonight. She wanted him to stay with her.

She was ready to move further in the strange relationship they shared, she no longer had anyone but him and her Aunt Nadine who was clear in another realm all on her own. Her lips found his before any more protests were attempted, feeling his arms hesitantly wrap around her pulling her close as her kiss deepened.

The underground was cold and unforgiving to those that had left the familiar mansion. They all knew the reasons; the flame swallower had been left in charge of the others. Everyone was restless, wary of the Ringmaster and darkness that encircled him. He was cruel and something had changed in their welcoming within the household, none of them wished his wrath and had willingly accepted the organ grinder and poodle woman's request to leave.

The bodies in the room stilled at the sounds of something moving within their domain, it was many sounds like rustling of rats, but something much larger. The Deadly Circus was surrounded, a single shadow moving from the gloom and landing before them.

Batman stood there in his forever vengeful glory, followed by more police than any of them could handle. They had been discovered and the Ringmaster would not be coming for them, this had been a trap and they had easily fallen into the clutches of the man they had allowed to lead them. The Deadly Circus was no more and what remained of their once happy family would not be joining them within their barred home.

He felt her stir beside him, eyes slowly opening to the darkened room he was so familiar with. Grace hadn't let him follow through with his plan to watch those that had trusted him fall, she had her own ideas and he had found himself unable to resist her. She lay at his side the red blankets a sharp contrast to the pale skin of her body, arm resting around his waist.

Love was such a strong word, the emotion brought about harm for both of them and yet she still allowed herself to become one with him. She loved him and now they were united together all because he had felt a certain completion with her helping him control the haunted madness that threatened to consume him.

His stare traveled cautiously across their bodies, the blankets the only barrier against the truth. They had made love, it was simple for him to accept this and yet he still felt the insanity clawing within the farthest reaches of his mind. It was under control but would never be truly gone.

His fingers brushed lightly against her cheek moving her hair aside revealing a small smile and for the first time in days a content sleep. "How did you do it Gracie?" he had always been a cold person, showing little or no emotion but his ever present madness and now he was showing love, affection, something he had always been positive he didn't possess.

Selena felt his fingers move against her face, the darkness slowly fading to the bright lights of a pale peach colored room. All she could remember was an explosion and being flung hard through the air. She had no idea where she was or what had happened.

Bruce's eyes shot open aware of a change in the monitors; Selina had moved and seemed to struggle in confusion. "Selina!" he was surprised seeing her eyes were wide and wild with fear.

He was pushed back from her watching nurses, doctors, and others come into the room. Selina had come out of the never ending coma; she was alive and would be getting well. Knowing he would be in the way for the time being Bruce did the first thing that could come to mind, he had to call Grace and let her know.

Max glanced up at the soft tap on Grace's door, frowning angrily at the disturbance. "What is it?" she mumbled slowly waking to the gentle caress of her cheek and meeting those eyes that had haunted her dreams and claimed her heart.

"I don't know Gracie." His voice was hard; she knew it was one of the three circus menaces that still lingered within the house. "Just a moment." He kissed her softly before grasping one of the throw blankets and wrapping it around his waist.

He walked to the door opening it to reveal a very nervous looking organ grinder, dark eyes almost fearful of his reaction. "Sir…there was a message from Mr. Wayne for you both." Before Max considered threatening the timid man before him he paused brows furrowing at the panicked sound in his voice.

"What message?" he heard Grace shuffling around behind him and felt a hand gently linger on his shoulder.

"Ms. Kyle woke up and they're trying to get her calm now." Max internally cringed, Selina had survived and was again foiling his life and plans up.

Grace gasped her hand covering her mouth at this news, she could feel her emotions go wild and heart racing. Her thoughts turning to Selina and if she would stay alright or if this was just a last attempt to survive the coma she had suffered for so long.

Max nodded closing the door, he didn't want to face her or see the hope in her eyes. Grace was his and yet Selina refused to die and let them be. She was again breathing and the Catwoman would again be alive to take her revenge upon the Ringmaster. _"Why won't she just __DIE?__"_ His inner voices raged war with his newfound emotions, he couldn't handle this right now and yet her arms wrapping around him eased the whirlwind in his mind.

"Max…I don't know if I'm glad she's alright or disappointed." Her voice cracked at the words she allowed to flow from her lips.

Grace loved Selina more than anything, but the truth that Selina had kept from her and the fact that she had killed had shaken her. It didn't matter that she lived with someone that did this without remorse, her cousin was somehow different to this, or at least that is what she tried to tell herself.


	11. Chapter 11: Truth is Madness

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners. I write these for fun and make no profit. They're just random plot bunnies that live within my strange mind._

_Thank you to you for the comments, fav's reviews, etc. They are much appreciated and make me feel better about my writing.  
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Chapter 11: Truth is Madness**

Half an hour after he had called them Max and Grace were both waiting with Bruce outside Selina's room. The doctors were monitoring her condition and seeing what she was capable of on her own, whether she still needed the ventilator or not. She had nearly in her confusion done more harm to herself than good.

Max hated the disguise he wore but risking his true identity would reveal more than he cared to allow, Selina would know the truth and would end what he now had. "How is she?" the question was reflex and he had a feeling it was more for Grace's sake than his own, after all Max hated the woman now again breathing and on her way to recovery.

"Not sure…they've been in there since she woke." Bruce continued to pace restlessly watching the door every few minutes.

Grace watched him pace before feeling arms slowly wrap around her waist, she smiled before feeling how tense Max really was. Familiar words and past events instantly fell onto her shoulders, he still had reasons to hate Selina and yet he was trying to be happy for her. Was Max changing for the better because of his soft spot for her? Her heart swelled with hope at this, but her logical mind told her that it wasn't true, he would wait for the day they could face off and end one or the others life.

"Ms. Sable…she's breathing on her own and asking to see you." Grace glanced up at the nurse and felt her self grow anxious.

Grace normally would want to see Selina alone, but familiar feelings of hurt and resentment came rushing back to her. Bruce watched her hand lace with Max's before she nearly dragged the startled man with her into the room, that was something he hadn't expected to happen.

"What are you doing Gracie? Are you nuts?" She ignored the startled tone Max offered her, before slipping into the room with only two nurses remaining to monitor Selina's progress.

"I need you." He stopped protesting at those words, she was dragging her cousin's worst enemy into the room knowing he wanted nothing more than Selina's death, and was doing it freely?

Max again started to question Grace's sanity, maybe Arkam had did something to her during her brief stay? He wasn't sure but he knew that this kind of thing was rather stupid for anyone to do, especially knowing what she did. He briefly wondered if Grace was doing this just to allow him his revenge, but knew better by the sudden soft look on her expression.

"I know your differences Max." her voice was only loud enough for his ears. "But I need you right now no matter what, I love you and need your help to keep myself from loosing it. I've never been in this situation before and refuse to just let myself feel abandoned because of revenge." She noticed him about to say something but a considerable softness was detectable in his eyes, the cold hard hate slowly melting even if it was reluctantly.

Grudgingly he nodded his consent and felt her tug him to the side of the bed. Selina's eyes were closed and she was breathing on her own, but was considerably thinner than she had ever seen her and appeared to be in just a little pain.

"Nina?" Max felt her hand tighten with his and glanced at her curious to the nickname.

Selina heard the familiar nickname and a whisper of a smile crossed her chapped lips. "Gracie?" she rasped her voice hardened from the various tubes that had kept her alive. "I'm so glad you're alright…" her eyes fluttered seeing Max was at her side and traveled slowly down seeing hands entwined. "…I see you finally took my advice." Grace felt her face flush but smiled despite Selina's amused sound.

"You're in no condition to pull your usual stunts with me Nina. Bruce is waiting to see you…" Grace paused seeing her eyes soften at the mention of him. "…but I need to ask you something that I learned before Max and I escaped." She knew this was not the best of times to ask questions and heard Bruce enter the room a soft smile on his face, before it fell already gathering the question.

"Grace…I don't think Selina is ready for…

"Bruce…let her ask." Selina was oddly calm, her feline instinct again kicking in. She briefly wondered if after a while her nine lives would kick back in, but gathered that this was just pure luck.

Bruce sighed giving them both a look, before waving his hand in defeat for them both to continue. "The Ringmaster…" she felt Max's grasp tighten, but reassured him with a light squeeze. "…told me who you are by night. Why did you hide it from me?" Selina saw Bruce nod in confirmation of which nightlife she was referring to.

"You would think less of me Gracie…being two people in one is difficult." Selina offered in that familiar croaky tone of voice. "I'm sorry." Instead of pushing things farther Grace offered a familiar trained smile, which Selina didn't know at all and leaned down hugging her carefully.

"I know Nina…I'm going to let you be with Bruce. If you need anything he knows how to reach us." She felt Selina's hand grasp hers firmly; eyes searching hers for some sign of reassurance or forgiveness, but Grace couldn't grant her that elegance just yet and smiled kissing her hand softly.

Once they were in the car Grace refused to speak and allowed her stare to linger out the tinted window. She felt betrayed that Selina was so cold and yet those eyes searching for something she couldn't give; it made her resentment much worse. What else was she hiding, clearly Bruce had known the secret because of the brief nod she had seen exchanged between the pair. Why couldn't Selina trust her with her secret? Why did she have to learn from Max in such an unfitting manor and why did she care? Selina was no longer the cousin she knew, but something all together different and she was growing to feel betrayed in this whole thing.

Slowly she allowed her eyes to meet the cool green eyes that had refused to leave her since they had climb in the car. "Do you think me evil Max?" she saw his expression change to one of confusion. "I think I honestly feel nothing for Selina…she lied to me and yet seemed to not care. Yet Bruce knew the secret and he refused to meet my gaze when we left. I get the impression that no matter how kind Alfred has been he's been covering for both of them." Her voice was bitter, the hurt clearly there.

Max knew she was right, but where was she going with this inquiry and what was she getting at? "Perhaps…families do strange things to protect those that they love, even lovers do this." She furrowed her brow watching his eyes lower clearly lost in his own thoughts again, she knew those actions well.

"I don't need protection…" she faltered, Grace had never really known what she needed; she had always been withdrawn in life and avoided association by nature.

Her mother sending her off to Arkam had nearly crippled her faith in anyone, she had never really come to love or care for anyone in the sense she was supposed to do so, yet she found Max different and almost like her. Two hurt people, two people suffering within their own minds and finding consolation in one another. She truly knew that no matter what she could never hate him, even if protecting her from the truth of what he was capable of unnerved her a bit, she loved him.

She realized that she herself had far more issues than even she had fathomed before. Max brought out her true identity, maybe she was no better than those she condemned in her own mind?

"Max…" her uncharacteristic tone made him actually wince, she knew something and was about to ask something he really didn't want to answer. "…I know the deadly circus planted the bomb…but who gave the order." The accusatory tone in her voice finally hit on his last nerve, she knew and he couldn't exactly deny it.

He hated Selina and loved her cousin, she knew him very well and hiding the truth would only prolong the wait. She would hate him, but now they were part of one another, how would she deal with this.

"I did." Finally he met those green eyes he had grown accustomed to, his expression turned to one of curiosity. "You're smiling?" his eyes were widened slightly, the clear surprise reflected in his expression.

Grace wasn't entirely sure why she was smiling; in actuality this had not surprised her. The night Selina had been hurt had been the night she had waited up for him, without his knowledge of course. He had returned to her room late and she had pretended to be asleep. _"I knew what he was doing, why did I not do anything?"_ in truth she started to wonder if her own sanity wasn't in question.

She had nearly allowed Max to have his revenge and yet Selina survived. All that remained of the deadly circus was the organ grinder, poodle woman and strongman, and she was finding the fact the man she loved had tried to kill her own family. Had she finally gone mad like her mother?

The thought triggered a memory she had thought forgotten, one she wished she had truly forgotten.

_--Memory--_

Grace felt terrified with the cries around her, the amused tones, and clear laughter that echoed in Arkam. She was sure the terrible place would destroy her sanity, the crazed characters and sounds coming alive at the final shift of the night. Her eyes shut tight against the madness within her, she had to hate those that put her in her prison, she had to hate her mother.

"_Nina?" she whispered softly into the darkness, her cousin had been there when her mother began to act strangely, she watched Selina flee the house calling that she would return. "Nina don't leave!"_

She shook her head; Selina had left her with her mother who was rambling about some evil being within Grace. Grace never saw herself as evil and her mother saying that just sitting there watching what happened without so much as flinching had been wrong.

Grace had seen her mother do it; with one swift swing of the knife she had used to make sandwiches she had slit his throat. For some reason she hadn't flinched, she had watched her mother kill the man without even blinking almost like it had been practiced.

Her mother's pale green eyes met hers. "Gracie…" her voice sounded horror struck; her little girl wasn't doing anything but staring, a strange smile on her lips. "…oh honey." She dropped the knife to the floor and carefully made her way to her daughter.

"Don't." Grace's smile hadn't faded, her eyes fixated on the body within the kitchen. "Show me?" she met her mothers gaze and saw the fear within her gaze, a cloud of unknown coldness seemed to linger there.

That was the day her mother had apparently lost her mind, Selina had returned with her mother in tow and the discovery had been too much. Grace's mother had already turned her over to Arkam officials stating that her daughter was delusional. No one knew what happened that day for sure, but it wasn't long before those officials had returned to claim her mother, no one knew that the man that had died had tried to kill Grace's mother and she had done it in defense, they all thought her mad and her daughter wrongly fully put away.

_--End Memory--_

That was why Grace hated the nickname so much; her mother had seen something wrong in her daughter at such a young age. Her mother had seen the strange glee in her eyes, the cold calculating need to learn how to hurt there. Grace was not entirely right in the head and that memory had been buried for so long, now it surfaced clearly because she now understood herself.

She understood why she hated Selina now; the girl had left her to her mother instead of saving her from those two nights in Arkam. It had taken her childhood, the innocent glee she had and now understood. She had been a monster herself at such a young age and it had diluted over time, her Aunt had seen it when she was young and took her from the city that would feed her obsession.

Her aunt had turned her normal by sending her to the country, her new mother had did just the same as her own mother had, only faired much better at it.

Max for the first time since falling for her was never this concerned with her smile before, he saw something in those eyes that resembled something he had internally battled with himself. _"Did I miss something in her?"_ a disturbing thought, but her past come back from that discussion not long ago and he began to think perhaps her mother hadn't been entirely insane for putting her into Arkam.

"Gracie?" she snapped back to reality seeing the inquiry in his expression and felt her heart pound nervously. "What is it?" he was hesitant to ask, but the sudden amusement in her expression had definitely been far too different for his comfort levels.

"Memories…I finally remembered why I was put in Arkam." His brow quirked at her tone, her eyes darkening slightly, her hands slowly brushing at her black slacks finally meeting those green eyes.

Grace found her voice and told him the whole story; she even explained why she had scared her mother. If it had troubled him at all there was no sign, he seemed to be sitting there absorbing things, his eyes half lidded in intense thought.

The silence was exasperating; he had yet to speak to her since they arrived back at the house. He left her to her room and disappeared still off in his own world. She started to consider maybe telling of her past was a bad idea, but he hadn't told her otherwise. Max had left her to wallow in her own thoughts. Her past coming back to haunt her, familiar feelings she wished had never resurfaced and finally a strange finality calming her completely.

She was no better than the person she loved, Selina was no better than a memory to her now. Shockingly she no longer cared either way, all she did care about was keeping Max at her side and life the way she now knew it. Chaotic and yet secure in those arms she had found the first comfort in since her grandparents had died. _"I need Max."_ the idea brought her from her continuous stare into the nothing of her room; she lingered in the bed they had shared not long ago before finally standing.

"I won't let him easily ignore me like this." Her jaw set determinedly she started for her door her hand freezing when it began to turn.

Max had been lost in his own whirlwind of thoughts. He had always thought she was off but this knowledge had thrown him. Yet it was also a comfort, Grace was similar to him in many ways and together they kept their own dark sides under control. There was a connection from day one and it all resorted to where they were now. He wasn't going to let her withdraw from him and he was not going to leave her.

Selina was no longer his most prominent issues, perhaps the evil woman would live for now. He had what he needed most, a woman that shared that same internal madness that kept him up at night.

He stepped hesitantly into the room pausing when he came face to face with her. "Hello Gracie." His voice was the familiar amused tone she knew him to have often. "I love you." She didn't get the chance to say anything that had gone through her mind, before his lips claimed hers.

They were both drowning in each others madness and the world would never know. Their shared secret would stay between them. Selina no longer mattered to either of them, Batman and Catwoman could go to the darkest depths of hell and neither of them would blink.

Past, present and future was determined by how they would live themselves. The Ringmaster would only come out if their world was threatened, she would always be there at his side. If anyone tried to ruin this or them, they would die trying because both were just crazy enough to do it together.

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**_A/N: I may do another part to this when I get the inspiration, I'm not so sure I like leaving the ending like this or it hanging, but for now it is done. Hope you all enjoyed the twist._**  
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